


The Walking Dead: Rising Monsters

by LargestLobster1337



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Anxiety, Boxing, F/M, Flashbacks, Gen, Hallucinations, Homophobic Slurs, M/M, Martal arts, PTSD, Racial slurs, Sex, Sexuality, Tourture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-05-30 02:59:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15087521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LargestLobster1337/pseuds/LargestLobster1337
Summary: A boy with incredible powers crashes onto a world ran by the dead





	1. Arrival

The manifestation portal was a bit higher then usual and I fell straight down into the rotten earth below me. The impact jarred my teeth and shocked me despite my inability to feel pain. I open my eyes, but I can't see. I immediately hear the soothing, female voice that only exists inside my head.

**_Critical damage sustained, Regeneration process engaging._ **

I keep my eyes open as light slowly becomes visible, followed by the entangled canopy of the trees around me. I notice a large break in the canopy, some of the tree branches were swinging and splintered from the impact of my body. I must have fallen from pretty high up, usually my manifestations occur on the ground, and I've never taken damage from them before. This world already seems different from the others.

_**Repairs complete.** _

_Thank you Alma._

I check my right leg, an advanced prosthetic of unknown origin entrapped by my bio-metalic suit. slowly I begin rotating the ankle and bending at the knee to make sure it's still attached, and Im happy to say it is. I shift into a crouch and slowly get to my feet scanning my surroundings, looking for any signs of life. Nothing but forest, and a few buzzing insects. I run my hands over my black, skintight suit, checking for tearing in the crevices between the armored plates that make up the suit. Looks like I lucked out! The suit is intact, the interior water bladder is 98% full too! Pockets and holsters are empty though, and I have no tools or weapons.

**_Running diagnostics.  
Heads up display: Online_ **

**_Automatic regeneration: Online_ **

**_Alma personality matrix: Disabled_ **

**_Flesh skin: Active_ **

**_Combat skin: Disabled_ **

**_Leviathan skin: Disabled_ **

**_Weapons: Disabled_ **

**_Shields: 100%_ **

The limitations of this dimension are much more oppressive then the last two. Even Alma is disabled? This planet will test my evolution, wont it? I like being challenged, and I'm well adjusted to this form, but with such major factors of both my offensive and defensive capabilities, I must admit to myself that I'm nervous.....just a little.

I smirk to myself, allowing my nerves to flow, I had at times felt a bit anxious leading up to my previous engagements. But I had always came out on top, usually without much resistance.....with a few exceptions. This form isn't my strongest or fastest, the power of my combat skin dwarfs this body's, and the Leviathan is a extinction level event on legs. But this form is still far from useless, and I have my instincts to guide me. 

I begin making my way North, quickly but quietly. Elegantly dancing through the trees, my built in shoes muffling the snapping of twigs and leaves beneath my weight. My eyes scanning for any signs of life as I move, My mind focusing on the task at hand.

After the first six miles of nothing but trees and the occasional squirrel or bird I stumble across a long, bare, black road. I had seen these previously in the first world, however this one seems to be in better condition.

_Are those cars?_

_**Personality matrix disabled** _

_Oh, right._

These vehicles are different in design from the ones I've seen in the past, a bit sleeker, less militant, but I'm confident that they have the same purpose. I don't see any weapons on them, so I'm confident that the humans of this world used them as a means of transportation, before being abandoned for whatever reason.

I smile to myself, reveling in my surroundings as I skip down the highway, admiring the designs and colors of the abandoned vehicles. I take my time to read the plates on some of the cars, carefully mouthing what I read to practice pronouncing the words, learning the language as I go.

"Ford? Chevy? Lincoln? Baby on board? People here must name their vehicles." I giggle, tracing the letters with my index finger and mouths the word as I do it.  
People often named their horses and pets in the last two worlds, but rarely their machines. this world already shows signs of being different from the last two, in terms of both technology and climate conditions. I haven't read signs of any radiation, excluding the sun of course. Naming inanimate objects wouldn't be so far fetched.

 _ **Motion detected**_! The voice in my head rings out, and a holographic box appears around a group of slow moving humanoids, about seven of them. Are they.....decaying? Thats not radiation scaring.

I quickly advance towards the group, using the vehicles to mask my approach. I stop and crouch behind a large black truck, waiting for the hoard to approach. These things almost look like the ferals of the first world, but their movements are different, slower and less coordinated. Simply just shuffling forward and moaning. The ferals of the first world never bothered me, they seemed almost uninterested in my actions, choosing to attack anything and everything that wasn't me. They're only motive was to kill and survive, anything that wasn't a feral was a target. I've wracked my brain countless times to try and understand why they never launched an attack on me. they noticed me for sure, I would see them tracking my movements, and at times they would even follow me, forming a pack with me as their leader, but they never turned hostile. I wonder if these ones are as friendly as they were.

I move out of cover and wave my arms, attempting to attract the attention of the approaching corpses. "Hello!" I cheer in my newly learned language, jumping from side to side cheerfully. "Are you guys mean?"

Every single corpse put me in their sights, there groans reverberating off of the vehicles as their shuffling path adjusts in a direction leading to me. This response is reminiscent of the ferals. However, the ferals never had any auditory reaction to me.  
"Sooo is that a yes or a no?" I ask, not that I'm expecting a verbal response, but I figured I'd give it a shot. I don't like these moans, they make my skin crawl. Fuck it! I mentally scream and prepare plan of attack. Take it slow!

I focus on the corpse infront of me, he's about my height, but his body looks soft. This corpse is old, weak and slow. This won't take long.

The corpse lunges forward and attempts to grab me, its bony hands reaching forward. I easily dance out of reach, raising my real leg and delivering a side kick to its knee, breaking it like a overcooked chicken bone. I back off and observe the corpse as it claws its way towards me, breaking the skin on its fingers.

"You don't react to pain?" I note aloud as I stomp on its head, driving my heel through its skull.  
"Ewww! Your head exploded like a pumpkin!" I screech. Having a skull so easily destroyed was.... unsettling, Maybe I put too much force?  I move on to the second corpse, this one was a bit shorter, but fresh.

"You're not as far gone as the last one. Do you know that? Can you understand me?" I ask aloud, however the female corpse didn't respond to my words, instead choosing to raise its arms out at me like the previous one did.

I move into range and perform a quick jab to her solar plexus before dancing backwards out of range. Her moans are silenced briefly, telling me that I had successfully disrupted her breathing. Alas her advance continued as if I had done nothing at all.

I raise eyebrow at the corpse. "You don't need air." I say before I move forward again, slipping under her swipes and wrapping my arms around her head, snapping her neck and allowing the corpse to collapse to the ground. Her jaws continued to open and close despite the paralysis to the rest of her body.  
"Your weakness must be your brain. If I destroy that do you die?" I ask the corpse. Why do I always talk to things that never talk back?

I raise my foot and bring it back down hard on the back of her skull, cracking it and killing the corpse. I will admit that Im relived her head didn't explode like that last one did. I scrape the blood and brains off the bottom of my shoe. "Well that didn't take long."

Should I kill the rest of them? I think I know everything I need to. I flip a mental coin and decided.

I shrug my shoulders. "Might as well." I decide aloud before breaking into a sprint towards the nearest corpse, jumping in the air and extending my leg while screaming "kyah!"

My foot collides with the corpse's chest and the impact slams the first corpse into the one behind it, knocking them both to the ground, allowing me time the deal with the corpse approaching from my right. I crouch and plant my hand on the ground spinning into a leg kick that knocks its feet out from under it. It collapses onto the ground where I finish it off with a curb stomp. I jump from that corpse onto the two others, stomping on their heads repeatedly until they cave in. 

"Two more." I say aloud as I sprint forward again, using my prosthetic leg to perform a flying knee into the chest of the corpse, using my forward momentum to roll off of it before soccer kicking it in the head until its skull indents.

I set my sights on the final corpse, the most well maintained. I start skipping towards it slowly, hoping to take my time and see what these things can really do. I dance into range and it reacts in same style as the rest, extending its arms forward.

I let out a disappointed sigh."No variety?" I scoff before I perform a cartwheel, moving my prosthetic leg forward to where my metal foot will collide with its skull, knocking it over with a kick to the face. I grab its wrists and pin it down with my knee on its chest, observing its reaction.

"Bridge up! Use your head dumbass!" I suggest as it continues to snap its jaws at me and struggle in my grip. I roll my eyes and stand before bringing the heel of my foot down hard on its skull, killing it. I look around for any other corpses I could test.

"That ... thats it?" I whisper aloud in disappointment before letting out another loud sigh.

_Cmon Alma, why am I here?_

_**Personality matrix disabled**_.

I roll my  bright cyan eyes "yeah yeah Im aware." I growl before skipping down the street, jumping side to side on the balls of my feet.

I'd spent the next four hours on the highway, alleviating my boredom by killing the corpses that had the misfortune of standing in my path. So far the only people on this planet are fucking dead. However I did enjoy naming the corpses and giving them fun little back stories.

"Gee golly Roland, its good to see ya!" I greet the advancing corpse, who responds by hissing and stumbling towards me. "Oh gee, she left? Ah thats a shame Roland" I say in a mocking accent putting my hands on my hips and kick a rock on the the ground, watching it skip towards the corpse. "Look on the bright side! At least you can go back to choking on cock!" I gleefully joke before spinning into a crescent kick, knocking poor Roland over. "Sorry Roland, but you know this dick is off limits to zombies."

I stomp on his head and continued on my way, switching back into my bored behavior. Every once in a while I begin smacking my head with my hand, hoping for my inner companion to activate.

_Alma you bitch tell me what to do!_

_**Personality matrix disabled.** _

"Your fucking mom is disabled!" I scream out in frustration, unsure of my objective on this world. The frustration gets to me and I throw my fist through a nearby car window, shattering the glass.

_You couldn't have dropped me onto a planet of puppies or big tittied nymphomaniacs?_

_**Personality matrix disabled.** _

"Personality matrix disabled." I parrot in a mock accent. Eventually I spot a building erected on the side of the highway, looks like some sort of motel or apartment building. Im not sure due to the lack of official markings on its exterior.

"Well I got no where else to go." I say out loud to myself and start skipping towards the building. Ya know one of these times imma say something and someone else is gonna say something back and Im not gonna be prepared for it.

Making my way up the external set of stairs I spot a unmarked, in damaged wooden door. This will do. I mentally declare as I knock on the door before putting my ear on it, listening for any movement but hearing only silence. Satisfied by the rooms vacancy, I take a step back before smashing my prosthetic foot into the door, targeting the area right under the lock. The door swings open as the bottom lock breaks, allowing me to step inside and observe the state of the room.

"Well.....this place fucking sucks." I giggle before jumping on the couch and sending a cloud of dust into the air of small hotel room, the cluster hovers in the air for a moment before a slight breeze from outside sweeps it away, scattering the cloud around the room.

"Imma find a way to keep you closed, mister door." I say to the door, praying it doesn't say anything back. Of course it didn't but hey! New world! It could have sentient doors. Better safe then sorry. I close the door and slide the couch against it to keep it closed. The sky had darkened considerably, and my hands are visible only to me. I wipe the dust off my hands and onto my bio-metallic Suit.

"Better go to sleep and recharge."  
I can just sleep away the fatigue, letting my CAM cells perform photosynthesis and provide energy for me to use tomorrow. Luckily this form uses the minimum amount of energy to operate, so I'll be able to operate for a while without eating, instead I'll be creating my own energy just by sleeping and absorbing sun light.

I check the bed for any bugs before shaking the blankets of the bed to get all the dust off it. To be honest this room isn't very bad, there's no holes in the wall and its well isolated....excluding the door of course.

I wrap my lips around the hidden straw in the collar of my suit  
And drink from my built in water bladder, using my fingers to press the straw back into the collar when Im done. I use both hands to trace the crevices of the bio-metallic plates that make up a decent portion of my suit, finding and pressing the hidden buttons in between my collarbones. The suit decompresses and falls to the floor, leaving me naked and allowing me to scan my tan skin, admiring the dark bruises left on my hip bone and sides by the impact of my manifestation. I climb into bed  and deactivate my prosthetic, letting my thigh decompress and relax, I trace my fingers around the nub right under my knee, moving it around to feel the small, metallic spikes that lock the prosthetic into place retract back into my skin, making it look like I have a thick black rubber band tied around the nub of my leg. I place the prosthetic next to me, tucking it under the blanket before I snuggle with one of the two pillows, pulling it into my chest while I place my head on the softer pillow. I close my eyes and set my  manual sleep timer to eight hours. "Should Be Light by the time I awake." I whisper to myself before my systems go into a semi alert mode, allowing me to sleep.

——————————————-end  
Character trivia!

When the MC speaks or thinks in italics he's actually speaking or thinking in summarian.


	2. Tracks

Eight days thirteen hours and four minutes. That's how long I've been on this planet. This stupid ass, boring ass, fucking bullshit ass planet!

"Lets get the fuck outa here Bearverly!" Bearverly is a small stuffed bear toy I found while exploring a couple days ago, I decided to keep her in a attempt to fend off the loneliness.

I had stayed at the hotel for three days but decided I should keep moving, hoping I could see something that would trigger something in me or reactivate Alma. I had stumbled across a small, destroyed town, but it was completely bare, excluding furniture of course.

I saw a cat there, a nice little male cat with orange fur and little white spots on it. It followed me for a bit while I explored the town, brushing up against me and letting me pet him but eventually we parted ways. While I was there I noticed a fresh, dead corpse with its head bashed in and well.... I was hungry.

"This is a bad idea." I say to the cat and the bear. I use my knee to snap the corpse's arm and begin twisting it, eventually tearing it off. I smell the arm "It doesn't smells like a normal human corpse." Fuck, what I wouldn't do for Alma right now, she loves this sort of shit. I bite down hard on the forearm, shaking my head rapidly to tear a piece off before chewing. The taste is fine at first but then the blood hit, it had a disgusting, sour taste and I could feel the coagulation on my tongue. 

I spit out the chunk of flesh before gaging and yelling "Eewwww fuck, that was dumb." I turn towards the cat "why did you let me do that!" I scream, making the cat flinch before glaring.   

For some reason I convinced myself the town made me do it, I grabbed Beaverly and stormed off. That was two days ago, I've running through the forest ever since.

But it looks like today, things are different.

"Horse tracks? There's horses here!" I squeal out in excitement and begin running, following the tracks with my bear in my hand.   
"Do you think they're still nearby Bearverly?" I say looking down at the stuffed toy.

The fucking moment this bear responds Im tearing its head off.

I start running faster, following the narrow dirt trail that the horses have taken, I pay no attention to the corpses nearby, they can never catch me.

_Alma, do horses have anything to do with the next clue?_

_**Personality matrix disabled.** _

_Worth a shot._

Speaking of shot, I hear six of them. Rapid succession, automatic weapon. Not sure of the caliber, and the trees are making hard to pinpoint the direction they came from. Should I take a guess and run in a random direction? Or should I follow the horse tracks?

"Maybe the horses have mounted weapons on them?" I'd pitched that Idea to the people on the second planet, they didn't go for it. "Still a good Idea." I bitterly whisper to myself and continue following the tracks. Eventually coming to a clearing.

I spot the horses, two of them, dead on ground. One rider is dead, looks like those gunshots I heard earlier hit their mark in that guy's chest. The other rider is trapped under his horse, struggling to push it off his leg.   
I take cover behind a tree and observe as three armed men emerged from the forest, there weapons trained on the trapped man. I can hear them yelling, but I cant make out the words, I move closer.

An older man is in the middle of the triangle formation, allowing his rifle to rest, the other two men keep there weapons trained on the trapped man. The older man shouts "Where the fuck are the rest of you!?"

The trapped man raises his hands "It's just me, I swear!" The one one the left, a teenager by the looks of it, lunges forward and kicks the exposed leg of the man trapped under the horse, making him scream in pain. "Agggghhh please! Don't kill me!" The man screams desperately.

Should I do something? I have no reason to help the man, but I feel like I should.

"Go with your gut." I whisper to myself and look around for anything I could use as a weapon. My hand lands on Bearverly.   
"Lets tag team these fucks!" I throw Bearverly as hard as I can. She hits the older man in the back of his head with the force of a million meteorites! And by that I mean it hit him and made a squeaking noise, turns out Bearverly is a dog toy.

"What the fuck!" The man screams and twists around, letting off a volley of gunfire into the forest. I hide behind a tree as the man sprays wildly, oblivious to my exact location. "Go find that fuck!" He orders as the teen and the other man charge the forest.

I drop low and walk on all fours toward the man, who I just noticed was wearing a skull mask. He's a big guy! Muscle on muscle! I'd love to fight him one on one, but I doubt his buddies are going to allow that. Should I go to him? Or wait to see if he comes to me?

I peak up and spot the teen about ten yards in front of muscles, then I turn to see the older man hiding behind the dead horse, gun barrel pressed on the trapped mans temple.

_Fuck it_

"Come here muscles!" I yell and tackle the large man, taking his gun away from him. The man gets back to his feet as I lightly toss the rifle into the forest, hoping to get my fist fight.

The man charges at me with his head down. I place my hand on the top of his head, stopping him before putting slamming his head to the ground with a slap to the back of the head. The teenager turns and points his rifle at me. "Fr.. freeze!" He stutters nervously, his weapon shaking in his hands.

I giggle at the boy "Ner-ner-nervous?" I mock, skipping side to side.

"Sh-shut up!" He screams still stuttering. He tightens his grip  
On the rifle in a attempt to steady himself. The muscle man gets up and swings at me with a sloppy punch. I slip the punch, wrapping my arm around the mans throat and using him as a meat shield between me and the teen.

The teens shoulders drop and his rifle points to the ground. The color in his face drains as hope dissipates. "Shoot him, Toby!" Muscle man groans in my arms, I flex my bicep around his throat, cutting off the blood circulation to his brain. He struggles briefly before going limp. I drop him before sprinting forward, screaming ferociously at the teen as he struggles to get me in his sights. He pulls the trigger, spraying bullets not at me but in my general direction.  I slide behind a tree, shielding my eyes as bullets impacts the bark, sending splinters into the air.

I feel something hit my back, making me lurch forward briefly. I turn around and spot the older man, still firing at me. "Fucking cheater!" I yell and flip the man off.

**_Damage sustained, regenerating._ **

"Good as new!" I giggle to myself, pleased at my quick recovery. I haven't had enough food to use any psionic powers, so im gonna have to get ahold of one of those guns!  The teens gun goes quiet, signaling that he's out of ammo. I rounded the corner and sprint at him again.

"Ah fuck!" The boy panics, struggling to grab a replacement magazine for the one he just spent. I'll be on him before he can even get his mag out of his pocket. He has a pocket knife on hanging from his waist band.

I slow down into a walk, allowing the boy time. "Use your knife, dumbass." I chuckle as the boy looks at me in confusion, tears brimming in his bright hazel eyes. "Grab your knife!" I repeat, a bit louder then before. The boy yelps in fear, dropping his rifle and struggling to get his knife off of his waistband. He finally gets it and unfolds it before shakily pointing it at me. I step forward and he steps back.

I sigh before talking "ya know it doesn't work when you're outta range, ri- ugh!" I'm interrupted by another bullet, this time it grazed my calf. "Give me Your ammo, that guys annoying." I command the boy, who just stands there, frozen in panic. I roll my eyes before lunging forward and grabbing his wrist, twisting it.

He yelps in pain and rolls onto the ground, slamming his back on the forest floor and dropping the knife. "Ahh get off of me! Get off!" He screams repeatedly before I slam my knee into his solar plexus, knocking the air outta him, he goes silent.

I grab the exposed rifle mag, wiggling it out of his pocket, I also make sure to kick his knife away, can't have him stabbing me in the back.

I release his wrist and get off him. He curls up into a fetal position and gasps for air rapidly while I grab his rifle. I slam the magazine into its slot and cock it before charging into a nearby tree. I wanna make sure the boy doesn't get hit by his own guy, im still deciding what to do with him.

I set my sights on the old mans exposed head and scream "Drop the gun fuck face!"

The man focuses his sights on me and retorts. "Fuck you! Drop your gun!"

"No fuck you! Drop your faggot ass gun!"

"You're the one im the bdsm suit dumbass!"

I gasp, this mother fucker thinks im running around in a sex suit! "It is a tactical biometalic body suit you fucking primate!"

"Fuck you!"

"No fuck you!"

I stumble as something hits me from the right, I swing around and aim my rifle at Toby, he's sprawled out on the ground, both hands on his head. I get hit in the chest and fall on my butt but I spot who's firing.

Mr. Muscles has awakened!

I aim my rifle and let off three shots, two in the chest one in the head, he screams briefly before crumpling like paper. The tree I'm hiding behind splinters as the bullets riddle it. The old man really wants me dead! I get back into a crouched position and wait for my opening, the man is firing in three round bursts, I have no idea how large his magazine is, these weapons are different then the ones I'm used to.

I peakout and fire off two shots, the first round barely misses his head but the second one hits it mark in between his eyes, sending brain matter out of the back of his skull.

"That works." I whisper to myself, picking the bullet out of my chest plate, watching the suit refill the cracks. the armor did its job,It wouldn't have killed me, but it would take some time to regenerate. The shot that hit my side, right above my hip bone already healed. Imma get too tired if I keep taking shots like this.

I hear whimpering behind me, Toby is crying? But why? Did I hit him that hard? I make my way to the sobbing boy, swinging the rifle onto my back, activating the suction magnet.

Hmmmm I wonder.

_**Calming touch activated.** _

_Yay! That still works!_

I gently place my hand on the back of the boys neck, letting my fingers poke his spine. He jumps at first but quickly relaxes. "There you go." I say in a soothing voice, rubbing the boys neck in gentle circles. I've done this in the past, humans are so prone to hysteria. This usually takes a couple of minutes, but it always works.

The boys shaking slows but he's still crying. I can hear something in the distance, more gunshots. We need to go! Im bringing Toby, I know the difference between a threat and a scared kid, he's definitely scared.

I sigh and roll my eyes before smacking the boy lightly on the head "You're lucky I have a soft spot for people like you, get up. It's time to go."

He looks up at me with watery hazel eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks. Why do white people get so red when they cry? Its weird. "What?" The boy whimpers so quietly I could barely hear him.

I grab the boys by the back of his shirt, lifting him back to his feet. "We're leaving? Cmon, lets got get the guy under the horse." I saw grabbing his wrist and pulling him a couple feet before he yanks his wrist outta my grip. I sigh and turn to him.

"Wh-why are yo-you bringing me?" He shakily stutters out. His bright hazel eyes glued to his feet.

I take a moment to think, why am I bringing him? Maybe it's because he's a teen, like me? I mean Im not actually sure how old I truly am, but I look somewhere between fourteen and twenty years old. Maybe it's because He's scared, like the boy on the second world, the one with white hair, Why cant I remember his name? Anyways that boy learned how to be brave, and I helped train him. Do I wanna train Toby? This world is new to the apocalypse, I can tell by the people. This is still the first generation. Toby is old enough to remember the world before this, but young enough to adapt to whatever comes after. That sounds like a good reason!

_Alma should I train toby?_

_**Personality matrix disabled.** _

"Go with your gut." I whisper to myself.

"Wh-what?" The boy whimpers out, obviously confused and still borderline hysterical. I place my hand on his head, playing with his hair gently, he jumps for a second before relaxing into it.

I switch my voice back into a soothing one. "Cmon, That mans leg is broken and I could use some help, I won't hurt you." I hold my pinky up with my free hand "promise."

He sighs and closes his eyes tightly for a second. "Okay, I'll help." He answers but doesn't pinky promise, instead pushing my hand off his head timidly.Baby steps I guess.

I swing the rifle off of my back and press the butt against my shoulder, walking out of the forest and scanning for hostiles, Toby close behind me, shakily walking.

We make our way towards the trapped man, he was frantically trying to push the dead horse off of him to no avail. His eyes went wide when he spotted us, he looks over at the old mans rifle, as if contemplating grabbing it.

"You could shoot me but it's probably not gonna do as much as you think it will." I giggle out and swing the rifle onto my back.

He relaxed for a second, and then he spotted Toby close behind me. He screamed "Hey! No, fuck you!" and grabbed for the gun. I jumped over the horse and picked the gun up before He could grab it. He pointed his finger at Toby and cursed at him "You fucking sick fucks! You stay away!"

"Relax" I interject placing my hand on the back of his neck. He mutters to himself but rapidly calms down. "You want us to lift this horse off ya, don't you?" I ask in a joking tone and the man nods slowly, lowering his finger from Toby. Im not sure what my 'calming touch' feels like but it must be some powerful shit. I honestly don't know how it works besides me having to make skin contact. I assume its a toxin excreted through my skin, like a poison dart frog. I wonder if they have frogs here?

"Ok Toby I'll lift the horse, you drag him out." I say while getting into a squat position, grabbing under the horse and digging my fingers into it."Three....two....one" I groan and lift the top half of the horse. Toby pulls the man out and the man screams, his leg Is definitely broken. Im not exactly good at medical work either, the whole regeneration thing kinda takes out the need to learn first aid.

Toby notices the mans twisted leg. "Shouldn't we se-" he's interrupted by gunfire, closer this time. His breath got caught in his throat as his eyes go wide.

He's afraid?

"We need to go, put him on your shoulders." I command.

Tobys eyes widen "M-me? I can't carry him! You do it, you're stronger!" He whisper screams, as the gunshots get closer.

Whats coming?

I don't have time to argue with him, we need to move. The man groans in pain as I pull him over my shoulders in a firemen's carry. I hand him my rifle so he can at least shoot if need be. I doubt Toby is going to be any good in a fight.

I turn to toby as he picks up the old mans rifle, cocking it to make sure a round is chambered and picking the ammo out of the mans pockets and pouches. "Any Idea were to go?" I ask and he looks up at me, fear still evident in his eyes.

"Um well ah-I think there's some ca-cabins in that direction" he says, pointing west.

well I guess we're going that way, towards the fucking gunfire. Why not right?

"Toby, grab my bear."   
——————————————-end   
Character trivia!

The main character was raised to treat Combat as a game, and keeps a mental point system in his head based on how he deals with his enemies. hand to hand combat generates the most amount of points.

Toby is physically frail due to malnourishment. He used to be a high school track star before the collapse of civilization and his favorite event was the hundred meter sprint.


	3. Cabins

Toby was right! There are cabins here. And we managed to find them without running into any trouble! Excluding the occasional corpse the happened to be stumbling by."Kyahh!" I scream and jump into a spinning crescent kick, my metal foot colliding with the side of the corpses head, sending it to the ground. I swing my rifle off my back and smash the butt into the corpses skull, splattering it. 

 

"Are the sound affects really necessary?" Toby asks, out of breath from carrying the larger man for the last twenty minutes. We switched off when the corpses started appearing more frequently.

 

"It's for intimidation!" I answer through a smirk, proud of my martial arts mastery.

 

"It's kinda silly." The injured man says, watching me from Tobys shoulder.

 

"Silly is good too."

 

"Not when you're trying to be scary." Toby jabs while rolling his eyes.

 

I roll my eyes back at him. "Whatever, where are we going?"

 

Toby makes a humming sound while looking at the cabins.

"That one looks good, can you check it out?"

 

"The black one? Sure, be right back." Hopefully the door is unlocked. I swing the gun off of my back and press it against my shoulder, jogging forward towards the black cabin. I point the gun at the door and reach for the handle, jiggling it. Its unlocked! what luck! I push the door open and make my way into the cabin.

 

"Hello? Anyone home?"

 

I wait for a couple seconds, listening for any movement before clearing the rest of the cabin. It was a pretty nice house, except for the overturned table in the kitchen and broken plates. The cabinets were void of food or water, same with the fridge. There was a bag of water in the freezer, not sure if It's good to drink, but hey beggars can't be choosers. 

 

There were two bedrooms and one bathroom, The master bedroom had a framed photograph of a male and female couple with a small dog, the breed of which I haven't seen before.

 

"It's a pug" Toby answers after I ask him about it. "You've never seen a pug before?"

 

"No, never even heard of them till now." I say while checking on the hurt man, who was fast asleep in the spare bedroom, he wrapped a towel around his broken leg after he had 'set' the bone. I've see broken bones before, however I never actually seen someone set it themselves before. One time there was a woman who had been tourtured, her legs beaten to hell with a hammer. One of my allies was tasked with setting the bone. The woman screamed, before passing out from the pain, however she survived after we got her to a secure location. She was lucky, on that world a broken limb was usually certain death, the only reason she survived was because a group of people were willing to take her in, after tasking me with a couple of favors of course.

 

Toby makes a weird noise and raises a eyebrow at me."How have you never heard of pugs before? You know what dogs are right? Or do they not have dogs in.... Africa? Mexico?"

 

"I don't know what you're asking me?" I reply

 

He makes a 'tch' noise before talking "where are you from? I cant place that accent."

 

"Afrika, not your Afrika, one from a couple worlds ago." I reply, twiddling my thumbs and taking a seat next to Toby on the bed.

 

"A couple what ago?" He asks for clarification.

 

"Worlds" I repeat and he chuckles in response, making me tilt my head at him in confusion "what?"

 

"I don't think that word means what you think it means"

 

I take a moment to think to myself, he's right in a way I guess.

"You're right, I think dimensions is a better word."

 

He rolls his eyes "No, I don't think thats what you mean either."

 

"No, I think thats the right word, its the same planet, just a different version of it." I reply, laying down and arching my back, getting it to crack a little.

 

Toby groans to himself. "Whats with the body suit?"

 

"Its a tactical biometalic mesh body suit, or at least thats what Alma calls it."

 

He glances over his shoulder at me. "Who's Alma?"

 

"The Lady who lives in my head."

 

He shakes his head in confusion "You.....think in a girls voice?"

 

"No I think in my own voice, Alma just interjects and helps me with my forms, provides information, that sort of stuff." 

 

"Forms?"

 

"My combat skin and my leviathan form" I place my hand one my chest "I haven't really thought of a name for this form, so I just call it my flesh skin."

 

"I... Im so confused." Toby stutters out "Do you have like, multiple personalities or something?"

 

He thinks I'm crazy. I grit my teeth, angry at his reluctance to accept the truth. "No, Im just not human, you really didn't notice the regeneration?"

 

"What regeneration?" He asks, not noticing my slight change of tone.

 

"Ok how about the glowing eyes?"

 

"Your eyes aren't glowing."

 

"What!?" I yell silently and jerk my body up, startling Toby by my sudden movement. I move in front of him and grip both his shoulders, forcing him to look me in the eyes. "Look again!"

 

He rolls his eyes in annoyance, but looks closely at my eyes. "They're super blue, but not really glowing."

 

I let him go and make my way to the bathroom, looking at myself in the mirror. He's right, they aren't glowing like they usually do, but they still have there normal bright cyan color, usually they pulse but right now they're like a humans. Almost anyways.

 

"I must be hungry" I whisper to myself and leave the bathroom, going back to the bedroom. Tobys laying on the bed now so I lay next to him. "I haven't eaten since I got here." I tell him as I lay next to him.

 

"When did you get here?"

 

"Eight days, seventeen hours, twenty seven minutes ago. My eyes will glow once I get some food in me, sunlight only does so much ya know?"

 

"No" Toby says, glancing at me. "No I don't know, I don't eat sunlight."

 

Oh yeah, humans cant do that.

"I use photosynthesis, kinda like a plant."

 

"Bullshit." Toby exclaims in a annoyed tone, catching me off guard. "Are you like, fucking with me on purpose or are you retarded?"

 

"You still have your knife?" I ask as a idea pops into my idea.

 

"No, you kicked it into the forest, remember?" He reply's bitterly.

I groan, annoyed with his annoying attitude.

 

"Well do you remember feeling calmer whenever I touched you? I call that my 'calming touch'!"

 

"First of all no, I don't remember that, second of all thats a dumb fucking name." He says bitterly.

 

I consider touching his forehead again to calm him, but I remember it only works with hysteria, annoyance doesn't really count, plus it takes energy and I cant afford to waste any. Its dark outside so I need to conserve all the energy I have until the sun comes up. Hmmmm I wonder.

 

"What's your sexuality?" I ask, a smirk growing on my face .

 

He eyes me suspiciously "Im straight, don't get any ideas."

 

I roll my eyes, well that idea is out the window. I COULD use my 'recruitment touch' on him to make him more.... interested, but that takes energy too.

 

"When I have sex with people my eyes glow and like, our eyes switch color."

 

"I don't know what you mean."

 

"Im saying, if we did, I would have brown spots in my retinas and your eyes would glow blue.

 

"Sounds gay as fuck, not interested."

 

He doesn't have to be so mean about it. "Whatever, your loss." I say rolling over so my back is facing him.

 

He takes a deep breath before talking. "Sorry.....I know I'm being a dick, it's been a stressful day, and I'm starving."

 

I let out a loud sigh, drumming my hands on my knees as I think."We need to find food. Any Ideas?"

 

"There's plenty of cabins around, we could scout them in the morning."

 

"I can see at night" I say sitting up and crossing my legs "I have night vision." He looks over at me and opens his mouth but stops to think. "It'll be fine" I say getting up from the bed and grabbing the rifle that's leaning on the wall, swinging it onto my back. "I'll be quick."

——————————————

"Jackpot!" I whisper, finding a pile of canned ravioli in the kitchen cabinet of my eighth cabin. I've been out here for thirty minutes, fighting corpses and clearing houses. I've found four large cans of ravioli, two jars of peanut butter, two bottles of water, and a single five gallon water jug. Needless to say I'm pretty fucking happy. Now my only problem is getting all this back to our cabin.

 

That hurt man had a backpack with him, I could get that and come back. Or I could get Toby and he can help me carry this stuff. "Or I could man the fuck up and carry everything in one go." I whisper to myself.

 

I stuff the water bottles into the pouches on the legs of my suit and scoop the peanut butter and ravioli up with my left arm, pressing them against my chest, using my chin to hold them in place. Luckily the jug of water has a handle built into it, so I just grab that with my free hand and march out of the cabin feeling proud.

 

I use my foot to lightly knock on the door to our cabin. I yell "Toby! Open the fuck up" and wait for him, after a couple seconds I hear footsteps approaching from the other side of the door.

 

Toby opens the door slightly, peaking his head out "Did you fi-oh, nice!" His eyes widen and I smile triumphantly as he holds the door open for me.  Oh look at that, Toby managed to get a fire going, well done Toby!

 

"What did you find?" He asks, shutting the door and following me to the kitchen.

 

"Water, ravioli and peanut butter." I answer, laying the cans on the kitchen counter. "A strange combination, but a treat nonetheless." I emphasize the word 'treat', my thoughts of eating that corpse continue to haunt me, causing an internal shutter.

 

"Did you happen to find a can opener?" Toby interrupts my thoughts while searching the drawers in the kitchen. "I found a knife that could work if you didn't."

 

"Lets just use the knife." I answer, dancing out of the way so he could open a can of ravioli. "Do you think we should wake that guy up?" He asks while jimmying the first can open.

 

"Nah, we can just give it to him when he wakes up." I suggest and take a sip of water from the built in straw on my suit, tucking it back into my collar when Im done. "He needs to rest."

 

"WE need to rest, we carried him." Toby exclaimed, finally getting the can open. "Do we cook this or just eat it cold?"

 

"Eat it cold I guess, unless you have anything to hold it over the fire with."

 

"We'll eat it cold." He answer cheerfully, handing me a can of ravioli. "I used to love these when I was younger, never had them cold before."

 

"I've never had ravioli before, what is it?" I ask, looking into the can and seeing marinara sauce.

 

"Im not actually sure, I've never made it. But I know it has meat in it." Toby reply's scooping out individual raviolis with his hand and popping them into his mouth while moving to take a seat on the couch by the lit fireplace. I take a seat next to him and begin eating my ravioli.

 

Hmmmm.....delicious! 

I lick my fingers and say "I wonder if this will be enough to get my eyes to glow." Grabbing Tobys attention.

 

"Are you serious? Your eyes glow?" He asks, dividing his attention between me and his food. I nod and scarf down the rest of my ravioli, pouring the sauce down my throat.  Well?" Toby says while savoring his ravioli. "They're not glowing."

 

I turn my body to face him, using the arm rest of the sofa as back support "Give it a minute."

He turns his body to face me, staring at me intently while savoring his ravioli. After a minute his eyes widen and I feel a small jolt of energy course through my body.

 

Bingo!

 

"Ha-how?" Toby stutters, suddenly uninterested in his food, he leans closer and I can see the cyan glow of my eyes reflecting off his hazel ones. "Why do they do that?" He asks, not taking his eyes off mine.

 

"I actually have no idea, but I know it varies on my mood."

 

"What do you mean?" He asks, relaxing back into the couch and finishing off his ravioli, but still keeping a eye on me.

 

"Well, In the past people point out that my eyes flare when I get excited and dull when I get tired or depressed."

 

Toby places his can down on the table in front of us and brings his knees up to his chest "Do they usually glow? Why weren't they glowing earlier?" 

 

"I haven't eaten for more then a week, I went into energy saving mode I guess."

 

This has only happened a couple times before, after being exhausted by my leviathan form. The intense fighting drained me immensely, causing me to pass out, brought back by sunlight and the quick thinking of a certain blond haired friend.

 

"So... so what are you?" He asks. Suddenly Im the most interesting thing in the world to him.

 

"Depends on who you ask, Some have called me a savior and some have called me a demon, I've been referred to as both God and Satan. All I know is Im not human." I say. Is that too cryptic? I think that might be a bit too cryptic, but fuck it, I don't know what else to say.

 

"Earlier you said something about being on different earths, what did that mean?"

 

"I've been on two other versions of this planet." I reply nonchalantly as If its a common thing.

 

"Why... why are you here?" He asks with a small hint of fear in his tone, as if afraid of the answer.

 

"Well, the first two planets have had some sort of test I had to do, I have no reason to think this planet is anything but the same."

 

"Tests?" He repeats and I nod. "Can you elaborate?"

 

"Well, the first planet I consumed the combat suit, had to prove myself as a fighter, ya know?" I say with a giggle. "The second planet involved a bit more shapeshifting."

 

"Like a werewolf or...."

 

"There were these giants with blades and claws and shit like that, so I consumed them, It gave me their weapons ya know? And of course I learned about my leviathan form."

 

"Leviathan form?" He says perking up, slightly. This boy asks a lot of questions doesn't he. Well I have questions too!

 

"Uh-uh" I say with a teasing tone and a smirk "If we're gonna play twenty questions I get to ask too."

 

He exhales sharply and his excited exterior falters. "Fine, ask away."

 

Hmmmmmmmmmm

 

"Who were your friends in the forest?" I lean forward, watching his mannerisms closely.

 

"They weren't my friends, they're were a group of bastards I was forced to live with." He says, looking away from me at a upwards angle, pretending to be fixated by something on the ceiling.

 

"Who forced you?"

 

He crosses his arms and breaks eye contact for the first time since I started glowing "The world."

 

"Meaning...."

 

"Meaning I got to eat every-once in a while." He replies through clenched teeth. "My turn, what's leviathan?"

 

I guess I'll have to learn slowly

"I've never actually seen it, but Alma says its 'a divine creature of unfathomable power'. I had some friends who said it was a giant black bi-pedal lizard with jagged spikes and a thick, rough hide tougher then any armor."

 

"That.......... actually sounds terrifying." He says raising a eyebrow. "So you can turn into.... like Godzilla? How big are we talking?"

 

I giggle lightly "nope, It's my turn." I earn a pained groan from Toby. "Do you hate me? For killing those men in the forest?"

 

"No, they.." his voice cracks, he shuts his eyes tightly but continues talking. "They were bad...bad men, they did horrible things."

 

"What did they do?" I ask, my curiosity sparked by his sudden distressed attitude. Toby curls up and doesn't answer.

 

Hmm I guess he did technically answer.

 

"Three hundred eighteen meters."

 

Toby perks up with a confused expression "huh?"

 

"Thats how tall leviathan is, One thousand forty two feet. At least thats what I was told."

 

His eyes widen slightly, he opened his mouth but all he could manage to say was "whoah" I guess thats a appropriate reaction.

 

"Can you transform at will?"

 

"I used too" I reply bitterly, annoyed by the limitations this world requires... so far at least. "This is the only form I have access to on this planet, so far at least."

 

"Well what can you do?" His child like curiosity radiating from him once again.

 

"Do you mean like, in general or unique to me?"

 

"What do you think I mean?" He replys sarcastically, but with a friendly tone.

 

"Well so far I've been able to.... can you see in the dark? I met some people who could do that."

 

He shakes his head and then re gains eye contact with me.

 

"I can, I can also change to thermal visions, I can regenerate, I used to be able to use a thunderclap and fire lighting from the shield that surrounds me, but I can't right now...."

 

"You have regeneration?" He repeats and I nod.

 

"But that takes energy, I also have my calming touch, I think I have my 'recruitment touch' but I haven't really gotten to try that yet." 

 

He waves his hands, asking me to slow down "Wait! What do you mean? What do those do?" 

 

"Well calming touch....... calms you. I did that to you in the forest. How does that feel by the way? I've been curious about it."

 

"It's like, how do I explain this, I felt tired, not necessarily calmer just less hysterical. Like when you cry yourself out?" He struggles to think of the proper wording. "I don't really feel better, but I can think clearer."

 

So thats what it does, maybe I should change it from calming to sedative.

 

"What does recruitment touch do?"

 

"It puts people into a heat state."

 

"So..... you can make people horny? Whats the point in that?" He asks, a hint of skepticism in his voice.

 

"It's not like I just do it for the fun of it, It creates a psychic bond, at least thats how I understand it."

 

"A psychic bond? What do you mean like you can.. what read minds?"

 

I chuckle at his assumption

"Hehe no, It offers suggestions I guess, the person will do something that will benefit me in some way, subconsciously of course. Like they have a urge to help me, whether they realize it or not."

 

Toby gets lost in thought for a second. "So.... you fuck them and then they help you?"

 

"I guess."

 

"Does it only work on some people? Like is there a type of person or something?"

 

Hmmmm good question

"It works on people I choose I guess."

 

"How do you choose?"

 

"I......I guess I just kinda go with my gut."

 

"So like do you just touch them or do you like.." he interruptes himself with a giggle and a slight embarrassed blush. "Hehe sorry, It's weird talking about this stuff."

What is it about sex that freaks humans out? They can talk about death and destruction all day long but clam up when sex is mentioned. "Hehe sorry, so you just touch them or do you have to like, actually have sex with them?"  He asks, getting his giggles under control.

 

I raise a curious eyebrow "You know I could show you right?"

 

His eyes widen for a second and he gets shy "ohhh I um I don't know, Im not into guys."

 

"I'll just touch your forehead and you tell me how you feel ok?"

 

He thinks for a second, then shrugs and nods

 

_**Recruitment mode activated** _

 

I lean forward and gently press my hand against his forehead, he inhales sharply and his body tenses.

 

"Well, how do you feel?"

 

He squirms a little, adjusting his pants "Horny.... really horny." 

 

I relinquish my contact with his forehead and lean back on my side of the couch, watching his eyes run over me. He clears his throat before speaking. "Do you ummm want to go to the bedroom?"

 

He hasn't really shown me anything I would usually take interest it, but heh could be fun.

 

"Sure"

 

He smiles and gets up, taking me lightly by the hand and leading me to the bedroom, using a flashlight to illuminate the way. He pulls me into the room and closes the door behind us before grabbing my hips pressing himself against me briefly before stepping back. "Oh that suit looks a lot softer then it is."

 

I chuckle and push him back lightly, pressing the hidden button that decompresses the tope half of my suit, letting it fall to my hips. Toby uses the flash light to scan my body, his eyes looking me over hungrily. 

 

"You know, the more skin contact the stronger the bond." I  tease.

 

He places the flashlight face up on the counter, its light reflecting off the ceiling, casting a dim light around the room, allowing toby to see.I on the other hand can see in pure darkness just as well as in clear daylight.

 

Toby rips his jacket and shirt off,exposing his thin, pale frame. His hip bones prominent from the complete lack of fat he cant weigh anymore then 110 pounds. He pauses and scans the room "Where'd you go?" He asks in a whispered tone.

 

"Right here."

 

"Oh...I can't see you."

 

"Not in the dark, no."

 

I don't know why, or how, but when it's dark Im pretty much invisible. I assume it has something to do with the magnetic shield surrounding my body, but your guess is as good as mine.

 

Toby starts unbuttoning his black pants but stops. "Wait I don't have lube or anything."

 

"Dont worry about it."

 

Toby looks at me skeptically, but works his pants off anyways, leaving him in boxers, a good sized tent poking out.

 

He moves to sit on the bed and I follow him sitting next to him, allowing him to run his hands across my strong stomach and chest. He pulls on the bottom half of my suit. I push him back and crawl ontop of him, letting him push my suit down past my butt before I pull it off completely, kicking it onto the ground.

 

I place my hands on either side of his head and hover above him, going slow for his sake.

He grabs my ass and pushes his hips up, our crotches colliding trough his thin boxers.

 

He moans at the unexpected pleasure that shot through him, letting his hips fall back the the bed, Leaving me hovering above him, his hands still gripping my butt.

 

"Agh why did that feel so good?" He asks surprised by the intense pleasure.

 

"I don't actually know, just something unique to me."

 

He lets go of my ass and desperately tears his boxers off, throwing them across the room, leaving us both completely nude on top the blankets of the bed. He exhales sharply and looks me in the eyes, letting his hands run down my shoulders and back, tracing my muscles before resting them on my butt once again. I lower my body down slowly, a sharp moan coming from him again once our members collide.

 

"Oh ahhhh fuck! Why does it feel like that?" He asks again.

 

I slowly begin grinding our bodies together, his legs wrapping around mine tightly and his grip on my ass tightens. His moans increased in volume, almost dangerously.

 

There's still corpses outside.

 

I lift my body off him again and look down at him, a almost offended look across his face.

"We can take it slow but you have to be quieter. Or we can go hard and fast and finish in say... three minutes?"

 

His eyes widen "Hard please!" He moans desperately, his hands moving around my butt. I lower myself again and start humping his member against mine, harder this time. He moans loudly, rocking his hips up against me violently. I wrap my arms tightly around the back of his neck, using my elbows on his shoulders to pull him down as my hips push him up. He uses his hands on my butt to pull my hips harder against him as he grinds erratically underneath Me, his moans spilling out loudly as the bed rocks repeatedly into the wall.

 

I reach down with both hands and grab his ass, pulling him up into me, enjoying the feeling of it tensing up everytime he drove his hips up into mine. A dim light begins to flicker in his eyes, quickly turning into a bright cyan blue that lites up the room.

 

"Aghhh!" His screams echo against the walls of the room.

 

I wrap one arm around the back of his neck and Keep the other on his ass, I start groaning when I stop holding back, colliding against his body as hard and fast as I could, I see the reflexion of my glowing eyes on the bedspread beneath us.

 

"Ohh Im close! Fuck, aghhh!" He moans and I push my hips against him and hold it, pulling on his ass, bringing his hips up into me harder as he pushes back, his butt tensing in my hand.

 

"Ohhhh god!" He moans again and his legs begin to shake, still wrapped around mine, his toes brushing against my foot as they curl sharply.

 

"Ohhh" I moan and let loose again, humping him as hard and fast as possible, feeling him go feral and grip my ass as tightly as his hands allow.

 

"Ohhh, fuck!" He screams humping me as hard as his skinny body will allow. His chest and stomach muscles tightening and I know he'll be sore tomorrow.

 

He lets out a final scream as his orgasm wracks his body, making his glowing eyes roll and his body jerk erratically, I keep going as hard as I can as my own orgasm hits me, my eyes flashing a bright blue, as the once dimly lit room turns bright as day. Our orgasms lasting a full minute, finally dulling out as we continue to hump each other slowly, waiting for the intense pleasure to finally come to a end, our sweaty bodies pressed tightly against each other.

 

"That... was amazing." He groans, still not completely finished as he continues to empty himself between our bodies. After he's empty I roll off him, allowing him to catch his breath. "Why is your right leg so hard?" He asks, and I lift my leg in the air. "A prosthetic?" He asks and I nod, rolling the metal ankle joint.

 

He starts giggling uncontrollably, his hands on his mouth."Hehe I just realized something." He whispers through breaths, looking over at me, his eyes glowing a bright blue. "I never asked your name."

 

I never told him my name?

 

"Dindu."

 

"Hi, Dindu." He giggles.

——————————————-end

 


	4. Locusts

"We're sorry." Toby and I apologize in unison, Looking down on the angry man on the bed.

 

"You guy's literally met yesterday!" The man scolds, switching glares between me and Toby. "Did you have to be so fucking loud!?" He asks, while eyeing Toby specifically.

 

Toby blushes and looks away, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "It's not my fault, he has superpowers."

 

"Magic dick!" I giggle, bumping my shoulder against Tobys. Im awarded with a giggle from the embarrassed boy.

 

The man rolls his eyes "Whatever, what else happened yesterday?"

 

"I found ravioli, peanut butter, and water, a lot of water actually." I say, proudly. Crossing my arms and waiting for praises.

 

"Anything else?" He asks, uninterested in my accomplishments.

 

Ayyyyy fuck you.

 

"Nope." I answer, slightly annoyed. My voice with a heavy, bitterness.

 

"Sooooo what do we do today?" Toby asks, changing the subject after noticing my sudden mood swing.

 

"I need to get back home, Thats what were doing today."

 

"Great!" I say perking up a bit, swinging my hips side to side. "We're are we heading?"

 

"It's called the Kingdom." The man says, taking a sip of water from the bottle resting on the nightstand. Toby had placed It there for him last night after he woke up because of the screaming, he was too tired to scold us at the time, choosing instead to wait until morning.

 

"Ok lets go!" Toby exclaims, visibly excited. Or is he nervous? Does he always dart his eyes around like that? He was pretty reluctant to talk about his group last night, saying they were bad news.

 

_Hmmmm maybe Im over thinking it. Alma, any Ideas?_

 

_**Personality matrix disabled.** _

 

_Well that's still broken._

 

"Guys!" Toby whisper yells, peaking out the window in the living room. I look at him in a confused manner. I open my mouth but Toby puts his finger to his lips, asking me to be quiet.

 

"Th-they here, they're here." He stutters, panic spreading throughout his body, he starts trembling.

 

_**Sedative activated** _

 

I burst forward, placing my hand on his head, using my other hand to push him down. I peak out the window. Twenty two contacts! Each with some variety of weaponry.

 

Wait,whats that?

 

"Who are those people that are roped together?" I whisper.

 

"They us-use them, fi-fi-find out where t-t-they live. H-hurt them so they're barely alive." Toby shutters out a shaky breath, closing his eyes tightly in a attempt to calm himself. "They pretend to save people, gain a gr-groups trust. But! But they map interour, exits, guard positions, weaponry. Then we-t-they infiltrate, kill everyone and use up all their re-resources, then they move on to d-d-do it again, like locusts." He's crying now, not uncontrollably, but he's crying.

"They'll hu-hurt us!" He whimpers.

 

Hmmmmmmmm, some of those people in binds have the same armor as the hurt man. They must be from the Kingdom.

 

Hmmm.... Kingdom..

 

"The kingdom, that's their target." I whisper, Toby looks at me confused. Think Dindu, whats the best move here? It's not just me anymore, cant just go out guns blazing...... unless.

 

"Toby, I need You to do something." I say pulling him up and crouch walking to the hurt mans bed. If this works it works! If they die.... I'll go to the Kingdom anyways.

 

"What's going on?" The man whispers, noticing Tobys distressed appearance.

 

"How far is the kingdom from here?" I ask, not bothering to answer him.

 

"About three miles, why?"

 

"Tobys gonna carry you there."

 

Tobys eyes widen "wh-what? I cant do that!" He chokes out, beginning to panic.

 

I don't have time for this!

 

I slap him flush across the face, he stumbles backwards, placing his hand on his afflicted cheek, red eyes wide in surprise. "I'll draw their attention, when I do, you escape." I place my hand on his head again, as if to let him know I wasn't angry at him. "I'll meet you at the kingdom, ok?"

 

He sniffles, but responds "o-ok." I smile and ruffle his hair gently.

 

The hurt man groans at me before talking. "How do you expect to esc-aghhh!" He screams as I pick him up and carry him towards the back window. He uses his own hands to muffle his voice. Toby opens the window and climbs through, I then help the hurt man through the window and Toby sets him on his shoulders as he had the day before.

 

I need to learn that guys name later.

 

I grab both assault rifles stuffing my suits ammo pouches with the magazines before climbing out the window and handing the hurt man a rifle so he can shoot if it comes down to that. I stuff a extra magazine into Tobys back pocket, leaving me with two full magazines and the partially spent one already in the rifle.

 

"Wait for me to attract their attention" I command and toby nods, seemingly focused.

 

That-a boy Toby! 

 

I move away from them, using the cabins, bushes, and vehicles to mask my movements. I peak out to look at the group, ten members outside, using blades to kill the corpses that stumble upon them. The rest of them move into a cabin, probably scouting for resources as they go. I sprint across from the group, still undetected.

 

This should do It. I swing the rifle onto my back and change my voice into a child's. "Ahhhhh!" I scream at the top of my lungs "Help! Where are you Mommy!?"

 

That did it! Two members split off from the group heading to my location. "Hello, little boy? Did you lose your mommy?" A man asks, not yet seeing me, a woman with a shotgun follows him closely while chuckling at his mocking tone.

 

Y'all bitches ain't gonna be laughing in a second.

 

"Help me mister! Im stuck under this car!" I whimper out, still using a childish voice.

 

"Aww well don't worry little..." he freezes when he turns the corner, seeing me smile up at him. I feel my eyes flicker in excitement.

 

"Boy." I growl out, finishing his sentence for him. That face, that look of surprise mixed with fear. Thats the look of someone who just realized they're fucked.

 

He lunges forward, a blade in his hand. I grab his wrist with one hand and jam my thumb into his eye with the other, the man screams as I pull him forward, sinking my teeth into his throat and ripping it out.

 

"Whoah! Joseph!" The woman shrieks in surprise as I swallow the mans flesh. I take the mans knife and slice her wrist, making her drop her shotgun before stabbing her in the chest repeatedly.

 

The rest of the outside group notices the chaos, turning there attention towards me. I grab the woman's shotgun and sprint behind a cabin as the group opens fire at me, narrowly missing. I push the shotgun around the corner and fire a shot, a man screams in pain. Hopefully thats not one of the prisoners. Probably shouldn't risk that again.

 

I sprint to the other side of the cabin and turn the corner, weapon raised. I fire at the woman rounding the corner, blood and bone exploding from her head. Two men are close behind her, I shoot the first one in the chest, but the second one side steps, narrowly avoiding the buckshot from my weapon. He raises his pistol to my head but I roll forward and turn, shooting him in the chest before he could get a shot off.

 

"So long, soy boy!" I laughed, dropping the empty shotgun and grabbing his pistol, stuffing it into my suits holster. I swing the rifle off my back and peek around the corner, spotting a group of hostiles coming out of the cabin. I take aim and shoot off a volley of fire, killing most of them instantly, others were wounded and fell to the ground, screaming in pain as they rapidly bleed out.

 

I feel multiple impacts hit me in the back, knocking me on my stomach, I turn over a empty my clip into the four men who had fired upon me, killing them all.

 

**_Critical damage sustained!_ **

 

Fuck! My leg is broken! The real one! Fuck those guys!

 

I drop the empty rifle and run on my hands and legs like a three legged dog as the rest of the group fires on me, bullets smashing into the armored plates of my suit, and I know its too much for it to sustain. Usually the suit would repair itself. But I don't have the energy to spare.

 

Fuck, gonna have to repair that.

 

I draw my pistol and peek the corner, screaming ferociously.

"Enjoy this lead you nut suckers!"

 

Seven shots, seven kills. I've always been pretty good with pistols.... well not really, that was luck but hey! Imma celebrate anyways.

 

"Fuck Im good that this!" I scream while dancing around on my now healed leg! Thank fuck I ate that ravioli with a side helping of Toby last night! The chained up people were sprawled out on the ground, watching me in amazement, probably haven't seen a guy regenerate limbs before. I should introduce myself.

 

"Yo..." I say skipping towards the group. They slowly start getting up, unsure of my intentions. Understandable. Did just eat a guys throat after all. 

"Im here to help you!" I say grabbing a knife off one of the dead combatants and cutting the rope they had tied around their waists and wrists, saying hello to everyone as I go along, six in total.  "So, the Kingdom am I right?" Im not actually sure what to do, no one has said anything.Can they understand me? My translator is working right?

 

"How do you know about the Kingdom?" A blond woman asks, she had the same armor on as the man Toby and I had helped.

 

Damn, I never learned his name.

 

"My sex slave is on his way there with one of your guys, he's about thirty something, brown eyes, greying hair, no fun."

 

"Anthony? He got separated from the rest of us" a chubby man said, recognizing my description of the man. "What happened to him?"

 

"Oh he's fine, he broke his leg is all. My guy is carrying him. They should be heading towards your place." I answer happily.Hopefully Toby and the old dude didn't get eaten already.

 

"Really? Well thats great!" The man says walking up to me and extending his hand. "Im Julian."

 

"Dindu." I reply, giving the man a firm handshake.

 

_Im making connections Alma!_

 

_**Personality matrix disabled.** _

 

"That's Camren" he says, gesturing to the women who spoke earlier. "Marcus" a man about a inch taller then I am, he had a scar on his left cheek and his left hand was missing. "Gillette" Another man about five foot seven, same height as me, he gave me a friendly wave when his name was called, earning a nod from me. "Jasmin" A Latina, a strong looking woman with short black hair, she didn't have the same armor on as the others. "She's from the Hilltop." Julian informs me. "And finally Avery." A large black man, buzzed cut hair and military dog tags hanging from around his neck.

 

"Hello everyone!" I giggle, waving happily, not really sure what else to do. "So, should we get going?"

 

"Not yet." Avery says, stepping forward. "We should collect these weapons."

 

"Agreed." Cameron chimes in from the background.They're probably right.

 

"Okie dokie!"

——————————————

"Dog!" I scream pointing to the black Canine in the woods after hearing rustling in the bushes. I move toward the dog, its tail wagging lightly.

 

"Wait." Avery commands and grabs me by the wrist, firmly. "It could be dangerous."

 

"Its a dog" I jerk my wrist out of his grip "I think I can handle it." I slowly make my way towards the dog, careful not to scare it. I reach my hand out when Im close enough, letting it smell me. "Hey boy, what are.."

 

His eyes.

 

"Why are your eyes like mine?" I ask the dog who just rubs his head against my hand in response.

 

_Alma! Is this my dog?_

 

A cheerful ringing sound goes off in my head before she speaks for the first time since I got here.

 

_**Congratulations, you've found the dog! He'll wander about, but make no mistake he'll alway be close by. Name him what ever you like, cheers and good luck!** _

__

_Alma!_

 

_**End of message.** _

 

"Of course." I chuckle and scratch the dog behind the ear. "You wanna come with me boy?" I ask the dog, earning a happy yip.

 

He responded? He must be able to understand me.

 

I turn to the group of onlookers close behind me. "This is my dog and I'm keeping him."

 

"Absolutely not!" Avery says, matter of factly.

 

"I wasn't really asking."

 

"Neither was I!" The man yells, taking a step towards me. "It could have diseases! There was a plague recently, we cant risk it!"

 

I feel my eyes flare as I struggle to contain my anger. "It's important that he comes with me." I rub my head, attempting to resist murdering this group.

 

"This isn't up for debate." He says taking another step forward. "I don't want to hurt him, but I will if you make me."

 

I feel the shift take place, the change in attitude between my normal, happy self and the animalistic rage that I keep caged.

 

"God damnit Avery, I will jerk your dick raw if you touch him!" I say taking a step forward, ready to smack a bitch. Things are about to get ugly before Julian steps between us, a nervous smile on his face, calming me down somewhat.

 

"Now now...." he says holding out his arms to keep us apart. "We can talk about this like civilized people." He turns to me, a curious look in his eye. "Why do you want this dog so bad?"

 

I exhale, allowing some of the rage to die down. "He has something to do with... with whatever I'm supposed to be doing here."

 

He raises a confused eyebrow "That means....what exactly?"

 

"That dog is important." I answer, still barely containing my rage. "Probably a deciding factor for whatever happens to your planet."

 

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Avery yells pushing Julian away from us. "You have a messiah complex or something? What could this dog poss-ohh"

 

I snap and punch him in the chin, toppling him over. "Don't question me! I just saved your asses didn't I!? You owe me!" I scream, my one voice changing into multiple, overlapping voices, and my eyes flair again.

 

"Avery, its not worth it honey." Marcus speaks, placing his only hand on the kneeling mans shoulder.

 

Avery glares up at me, but holds his tongue. "Whatever." He says, shrugging the mans hand off and marching off.

 

Julian shoots me a apologetic look and places a hand on my new dog, scratching his head gently. "Im not sure what you are." He says, glancing at me and then back to the dog. "But I hope you understand, some of us have lost everything." 

 

"Not everything...." I mutter under my breath. "He still has his teeth."

——————————————

The March to the Kingdom was short, but incredibly Awkward. I caught Avery shooting me and my new companion glares every once in a while. I was planning on getting to know Avery, learn about this world and the military tactics that helped shape it, but fuck him, he can choke on dicks and die for all I care. Eventually we arrived, a large metal wall surrounding a town, sentry at the entrance.

 

"Open the gate!" The man on the tower orders. The gate swings open with a loud screech, and were greeted with a crowd, happy to see that their soldiers returned home. The group ran into the crowd, greeting family and friends alike. Except for Jasmin, who isn't from the kingdom. Instead, she choose to stand awkwardly next to me, arms folded. Curiousity got the better of me.

 

"So how did you end up getting captured with this lot?" I ask glancing at the surprisingly shy Latina to my left.

 

"I was looking for my sister." She replied, obviously annoyed by my question.

 

"Well, good luck." I say, walking off to explore the area, my four legged friend by my side.

 

I observe children in a garden, singing songs and watering plants. They seem to have made a game out of it. I lived on a farm a long time ago, for a short time anyways. It wasn't really my thing, however I did enjoy caring for the animals.

 

"There's a lot of people here, isn't there boy?" I observe, patting my dog on the head gently. "I wonder if you have any tricks up your sleeve."

 

"Dindu!" A happy voice yells from the crowd of onlookers, I didn't even notice I was getting so much attention. I notice one familiar figure that stood out to me

 

"Toby! Your ass didn't get eaten!" I yell back at the approaching boy, happy to see he managed to make it all this way.

 

He comes up and gives me a playful high five, giggling as he did it. "This place is amazing! They even have showers here, and lots of food and beds." He informs me, cleaner then he had been when he left my care, wearing different clothes too. He had a red hoodie on when he left, now he was wearing a grey long sleeved shirt. He even got new running shoes, replacing his beat up pair.

 

"These people seem to have treated you well." I point out noting his attire, and his overall cheerful tone. He turns to my new dog, then back to me, then back to the dog, then back to me.

 

"Why does this dog have the same eyes as you?" He asks, a strange look on his face.

 

"I found him in the woods, apparently he's my dog."

 

"You didn't.... you didn't fuck this dog, did you?"

 

I laugh loudly, I honestly didn't expect that question. "Haha, no I most certainly did not!" I say through laughter.

 

He lets his breath and laughs in relief "oh hehe just making sure, Im not sure what you aliens are into."

 

What makes him think im a-

 

"Dindu!" Im pulled out of my thoughts by Julian calling me, motioning for me to follow him.

 

Tobys eyes light up and he grabs me by the wrist, pulling me with him. "Cmon!" He says, dragging me. "You're gonna love this."

 

Him and Julian walk me through the crowd, some of the people smile at me and pat me on the back, which if Im being honest kinda scares me. I don't like crowds. Too many people, too much noise to pick up on, even with my dulled senses I can hear more then average people.

 

Julian opens a door for me as Toby continues to pull me through, we enter a large amphitheater, on the other side of it is a man on a throne, to his right are two people, a woman with a basket of fruit, and a man with a battle axe in his hands. On his left...

 

"Holy fucknuggets is that a tiger!?" I whisper, as if scared to spook the mighty cat.

 

"I told you you'd love it." Toby smirks and I shoot him a grin.

 

"Dindu!" The man on the thorn yells in a friendly tone. "Young Toby here has told me tales of your heroism and optimism, I thank you for saving him." The man bows forward in a sitting position. 

 

By 'optimism' he probably means 'dick'. But I'll leave it alone

 

"Oh It was nothing." I chuckle giving a shy wave. "I had fun after all."

 

The man on the throne chuckles at my response. "Hehe I think you will be well met here. The people of the Kingdom are In your debt, could I interest you in a apple?" The woman moves foward with the basket of fruit, holding it foward and bowing her head. "Toby here tells me that you have had little to eat this last week."

 

I pick a apple and take a bite. "Mhhh delicious." 

 

"I'm glad they are to your liking friend, but this does not begin to repay the debt we owe you, please allow me to introduce myself." The man stands from his throne and bows to me. "I am King Ezekiel, welcome to the Kingdom."

 

"Neat." I giggle, taking another bite of the apple. This place is fucking weird.......


	5. Fenrir

"Is it even a dog?" Toby asks, stretching on a mat as we get ready for today's exercise.

 

"Alma says he's a dog, but he is a bit big ain't he?" I agree as we stare over at the large dog, as it plays tug of war with a couple of kids in the garden. It's not like I measured him or anything, but if I had to guess, I'd say he's about the same size as shiva, Maybe even a few inches taller. Eziekial wont let me set up a play date for them, so it's a strictly visual estimation.

 

"He looks more like a wolf then a dog." Toby groans mid stretch. "Have you thought of a name for him yet? Its been what? A week or so?"

 

"Nine days three hours eleven minutes." I roll my eyes "And no, I haven't." 

 

"Well shouldn't he have a name?" He chuckles out, switching legs.

 

"I don't know what to name him, Its difficult." I groan out. Toby has relentless pushed me into naming my dog, Its a bug responsibly and I don't wanna give him a dumb name.

 

"Well he has fangs." Toby observes, moving into a seal stretch. "How about Dracula?"

 

"For fucks sake Toby, he's not a vampire! He's a dog..... or a wolf. Aren't werewolves like the opposite of vampires or something? Hehe" I say with a chuckle. "And their called canines, every omnivore had them. Even you!"

 

"I know that..." Toby says before he rolls his eyes. We've had this conversation before, and he has repeatedly asked me to name it some sort of mythology based name..... or krypto.

 

"I mean you have superpowers and he's your dog. Krypto is perfect."

 

"Nooooooooo." I groan loudly, some people look at me with concern, but keep walking. Toby laughs at the difficulty I'm having over such a minuscule task. My dog needs a cool name! I'm allowed to be stressed right? I need something robust and at the same time elegant with a touch of menacing...

 

I lead Toby through some stretches. I was raised by monks, and they had me stretch and exercise constantly, so I'm pretty good at it. But toby isn't very flexible yet.

 

"You know.... I went to the library yesterday." Toby says, relaxin on his stomach after his seal stretch. "I've been reading some books about vikings, There's some badass names you might like."

 

I perk up from my position, sitting cross legged. "Oh? Like what?"

 

Toby copies mys stance and sits right across from me in the dirt, wiping his hands clean on his grey sweat pants. "Well, There's a wolf god named Fenrir, a giant wolf that killed the god Odin, and ate the sun and moon. I thought you might like that part." He says. I can feel him looking for a reaction on my face, trying to decipher my reaction.

 

But the problem is, I do like the name. But I'm not willing to commit to it yet, Not until I know more. "Maybe."

 

"That's better then no I guess." He giggles out.

 

I've noticed that his overall mood had been much better then before we got here, I mean he still has nightmares on occasion, who wouldn't after what he went through. I mean... I don't have nightmares, or dreams actually. I kinda just fall asleep and then wake up, nothing in between, I don't even wake up in the middle of the night unless something wakes me. But I've always wondered what dreams were like.

 

But that's enough reminiscing on the floor for now, there's exercises to be done! "Ready?" I ask, getting up from the ground and kicking my feet above my head. Tucking the long sleeve shirt into my sweatpants. My body suit is being repaired, courtesy of the Kingdoms blacksmith, Kevin. Toby hesitates for a second before getting up, showing me he's ready.

 

I chuckle at his hesitation. "Don't worry, it'll be a easy day." I say with a smirk

 

He rolls his eyes. "That's what you said yesterday, I bruise ya know? I don't regenerate." 

 

"I only hit you once! And I said I was sorry, you cant be afraid to get hit ya know?" I defend myself. "And for the record I get bruises too..." I whisper, but he didn't hear me.

 

"Yea yea yea I've heard it all before, its a little different in practice ya know?" Toby rolls his eyes, stretching his arms.

 

"Ok ok, It'll be fun, maybe we can go out and shoot at corpses later, you seem to be enjoying that." I say as we begin jogging around the Kingdom. 

 

You know what's funny to me? Humans are the most advanced long distance runners on the planet, yet I've seen motherfuckers too lazy to walk twenty feet to get a glass of water, choosing dehydration over the very small exertion of forcerequired to stand the fuck up. They should be able to simply out last their prey, running them to exhaustion. I want Toby to get up to that level, a formidable predator. And that starts with cardiovascular exercise.

 

"Run bitch run!" I scream at him when he starts slowing down. "It's only been three miles!"

——————————————

Toby pants loudly, leaning on a wall and trying not to vomit. We had had just finished the third face, the actual workout part. Now we're supposed to head into the martial arts section. AKA the part I beat him up.... just a little. 

 

"Is he ok?" A young man by the name of Benjamin asked. We met him shortly after we got here, he's pretty close to our age so naturally, we gravitated towards him.

 

"He's fine, just being a baby." I chuckle and pat Toby on the back, turning back to ben. "How's the Akido going?" I ask, referencing his fondness for the stick oriented martial art.

 

"Ehh ya know, slow and steady." He twills the staff around. Obviously proud of his new found passion, even his little brother, Henry, is getting into it. I for one think that it's fantastic to see kids take up martial arts, especially when it could save your life.

 

"You know you could train with us if you wanted to right? I'm not saying Morgans a bad teacher, It just helps to have differing perspectives. Plus....." i smirk and glance at Toby over my shoulder for a moment. "Im sure I could get you into pretty good shape." 

 

He chuckles lowly. "As much fun as you beating me up everyday sounds, I think I'll pass." He says with a sympathetic look towards Toby, who's still catching his breath.

 

I look back at Toby and sigh, rolling my eyes. I know people think I'm hard on them sometimes, but if I'm not hard on them in training how are they going to survive a real life situation? But maybe I should let him rest, he's building his strength up after all. "Fine... we'll call it a day."

 

Big baby.

 

I turn my attention back to Benjamin. "Are you going out again today, Benji?" I ask

 

he nods. "Yep, scavenging for supply's again." He says. "No biggie, things have been good recently."

 

"Do you think we could come? Toby needs more practice."

 

He looks away from me briefly. "I don't think so, Ezikial is pretty strict about who can go out, with that group you fought possibly being around and all."

 

The locust as I've come to call them was apparently a pretty large sized group. I managed to kill a good amount of them, but failed to wipe them out, Ezikial fears retaliation if I or Toby are spotted interacting with Kingdom soldiers.

—————————————— 

 

"Alma said dog, not wolf." I argue, sitting next to toby on a bench and eating a veggie sandwich. Enjoying the crunch and freshness of it.

 

"For the billionth time I know what she said, but look." He points at the picture and description on his book. "He matches the description for Dire wolves almost perfectly." 

 

I roll my eyes. "Why do you want him to be a wolf so bad?"

 

"Because wolves are fucking cool? And Dire wolves are supposed to be extinct? That means He's probably the only one of his kind."

 

"If he's even a wolf at all. He could be like me."

 

"What do you mea-"

 

He was interrupted by the loud rattling of the gate. In walks a group of people I haven't seen before, they were led by Richard and that man who took jasmine back home some time ago.

 

"Hmm, do we know them?" Toby asks, as curious as I am.

 

"I've literally been here as long as you." I retort, going back to my sandwich but keeping a eye on the group. Hmmm, judging by their shifty eyes and tense movements I'd say this is there first visit to the kingdom. Oh god damn it!

 

"Fenrir! Come here!" I yell at the dog as he runs to greet the group. Toby's eyes widen when he realizes what I said.

 

He turns to me with a smug smile. "I see you finally decided on a name."

 

I groan, realizing my mistake. "Yep, Wolf gods are cool." I quickly finish up by sandwich before standing up. "That little shit."

 

My dog ignored me. And I hustled over their incase he decided to jump on someone or something like that. He does that on occasion.

 

"Wait! Don't go over there! You're gonna scare them away!" Toby whispers, but groans and follows me when he realizes I ignored him.

 

The boy with the bandage around his eye seems to be surprised by Fenrir at first, but he bend down slightly to give the dog a firm petting, and Fenrir appears to appreciate it, yipping happily.

 

"I know you heard me Fenrir." I scold, crossing my arms like a angry mother, giving him the evil eye.

 

"Maybe he hasn't learned his name yet?" Toby suggests, walking up to the dog.... or wolf I guess, petting him on the back, not wanting to interrupt the one eyed boy.

 

"Whats his name?" The boy asks, glancing up at Toby before turning his attention back to the Large wolf in front of him.

 

Fenrir seems to like him.

 

"His name is Fenrir.... like FEN-reer." Toby replies and carefully pronounces. Stepping back from the dog when Richard walks closer to him.

 

"So.... who are you guys?" I ask the boy.

 

"Don't bother them, Dindu." Richard warns, ruining my fun.

 

"Consume a cock, Rich." I reply, knowing how much he hates it when I call him Rich. I would call him Dick, but Richard means dick so It wouldn't be very offensive.

 

He makes a annoyed groan, but doesn't say anything, choosing instead to lead the group away. He turns back to me, saying "stay"

And pointing at me. I flip him off when he turns away.

 

"We'll we have to follow them now." I whisper to Toby, pulling him by the wrist. I notice something on that black chick's back, something I like.

 

Whoah, that lady has a katana! I haven't seen one of those since the first world. That guy, the only man who could keep up with me. What was his name again? He had one of those, and fuck he was good with it. 

 

"What?" The woman asks, turning around. Apparently I was staring and didn't realize she turned around.

 

"Ehh sorry, your sword triggered some flashbacks I think."

 

She gives me a strange look. "Okay."  She says, and starts to turn her back on me.

 

"Can I see it?"

 

Toby comes from behind and throws his arms around my shoulders. "Sorry about my retarded little friend. He's retarded and little." He insults, trying to pull me away from the group. 

 

"You're like a inch taller then me!" I yell, rolling my eyes and glancing back at the woman with pleading eyes.  I don't think she's gonna let me see it. "Get off me Toby!" I yell and shake him off, carful not to accidentally hurt him. He giggles at me but keeps trying to pull me away from the group.

 

"Dindu!" Richard yells at me and I roll my eyes, preparing to be scolded. "Why don't you ever fucking listen!? This is why the king doesn't let you outside the gates!" 

 

"He let's me out! Sometimes...."

 

"Yeah for target practice! And only under adult supervision." He yells back, making me roll my eyes. I notice the man who took Jasmine back to the hilltop, I wonder how she's doing.

 

"Hey you, long haired guy." I say pointing at the man, catching his attention and earning a angry look from Richard. "Your the one who took Jasmine home right? How is she?"

 

The man looks at me with a kind smile. "She's fine, but we're still looking for Sierra."

 

That must be her sisters name.

 

"How do you know her?" The man asks, keeping the friendly persona.

 

"Im the one who rescued her, she didn't tell you about me?"

 

A surprised look came over him for a second, as if he didn't believe me. "She did, I was just expecting someone a bit .."

 

"Taller? Smarter? Better looking?" Toby interrupts, poking fun at me again. I glare at him, trying to seem scary, but he just smiles at me.

 

"I was gonna say older." The man chuckles. "How much of that story is true?" He asks.

 

"I dont know the story" I start "I took down a bunch of people and came here, thats about the jist of it."

 

"Morgan?" One of the girls says, catching everyone's attention.

 

They know him?

 

"How do you know eachother?" Richard asks, just as surprised as I am.

 

"We go back to the beginning." The man with the python handgun holstered on his belt says.

 

Richard looked like he wanted to say more, but didn't ask. "The king will see you now. Dindu fuck off!" Richard yells at me, surprising me.

 

I let out a annoyed groan and throw my arms up. "Fine! Fine, I'll go." I whimper and walk a little ways.

 

"Soooo.... were are we going?" Toby asks, close behind. I look back to the entrance of the amphitheater, watching the group file into the building. Waiting before they're all inside before I turn back around, making my way back towards the amphitheater.

 

Tobys eyes widen when I turn around. It's almost like his brain buffered as he realized what I was doing. "Agh you said we were leaving."

 

"I lied." I chuckled. "I wanna see what they're talking about." I say.I sneak my way into the amphitheater (despite Toby's protests) and watch as the man named Jesus is greeted by the king. And the groups reaction to Shiva.

 

Jesus turns from the tiger to the group. "Right, I forgot to mention."

 

"Ya.. Tiger." The leader say, taken back by the presence of the large cat.

 

Thats a weird thing to forget, Jesus, you lying cunt.No one ever mentions the tiger. It's not like you just forget about the existence of tigers! You just wanna see their reaction.

 

Jesus continues his introduction of the group. "This is Rick Grimes, the leader of Alexandria, and these are some of his people."

 

The king in his typical, warm tone acknowledges the group "I welcome you all to the kingdom, good travelers. Now what brings you to our fair land? Why do you seek a audience with the king?"

 

Rick takes a moment to choose his words. "Ezekiel. King Ezekiel." He pauses for a brief second, clearing his throat. "Alexandria, The Hilltop, and the Kingdom. All three of our communities have something in common. We all serve the Saviors. Alexandria already fought them once and we won, we thought we took out the threat but we didn't know then what we know now. We only beat one out post. We've been told that you have a deal with them, that you know them. That you know they rule through violence and fear."

 

A deal?

 

Jesus turns to the king with a expression of a child who got caught doing something they shouldn't be. "Your majesty, I only told them...."

 

"Our deal with the saviors is not known among my people!For good cause."  The king interrupts, a subtle hint of anger in his voice.

 

"What deal?" I turn the corner, making my presence known, a heavy silence fills the amphitheater. I turn my attention towards Rick and the rest of his people. "Who are the Saviors?" 

 

The black woman with the sword steps forward, a small tremble in her voice. "They killed some good people, brutally"

 

Morgans eyes widen, taken back by the news."Who?" He asks

Rick and the women look at him in confusion, followed by horror at their realization, Morgan hadn't known about the deaths of his friends.

 

A angry Latina woman speaks for the first time"Abraham, glen, spencer, olivia, Eugene was taken." She leans forward slightly, keeping her arms crossed as Morgan digests the information. "You gonna say you were right?"

 

Morgan looks away from the woman, choosing instead to glance at the ground. "No, Im...Im just real sorry they're gone." 

 

Rick continues. "Negan murdered Glen and Abraham, beat then to death."

 

The girl Who first recognized Morgan speaks up. "He terrorized the Hilltop, set loose walkers just to make a point." 

 

Jesus speaks again. "I used to think the deal was something we could live with, Alot of us did. But that's changing. So let's change the world, your majesty."

 

Rick takes charge of the conversation."I wanna be honest about what we're asking. Our people are strong, but there's not enough of us. We don't have guns, not enough at least. Not a lot of weapons period."

 

Richard takes a deep breath, looking at the king."We have people, and weapons, if we strike first, together, we can beat them."

 

"For once I agree with Rich." I chime in, allowing my stance to be known. "Waiting to see what happens never really worked out for me in the past." 

 

Richard continues "Your majesty, no more waiting for things to get worse beyond what we could handle. We set things right. The time is now." 

 

I smile at ricks group and turn to the king. "So, King Ezekiel, whatcha say?" 

 

The kind takes a moment to ponder "No." He says plainly, and I have to shake my head to register his words.

 

Did this bitch just say no? Because that's what it fucking sounded like! I just fucking said we need to do something! We can't just sit and wait like cattle being lead to the slaughter! Does this bitch think he knows more then me?

"Well what the fuck do you know!?" I scream, snarling at Ezekiel. "I just fucking told you shits gonna go sideways eventually! We may as well be the the ones turning it!"

 

Richard steps forward, acting like I might attack Ezekiel. "You're out of line Dindu." 

 

"Nigga shut your fucking mouth!" I yell at Rich. Im not gonna waste my time talking to the guy who follows orders blindly, knowing it's the wrong move. So I turn my attention back to Ezekiel and say."What do get out of this deal? You get your dick sucked or something?" 

 

"We trade resources for safety!" He justifies.

 

"Safety from them!"

 

"Safety none the less!"

 

"Nigga you being robbed! They're literally holding a gun to your head and taking your shit!" I scream. He sees that right? How could he not? It's plain as day. "It's not Safety if it's under the threat of violence! You've just negotiated yourself into a hostage..... congratulations." 

 

"That's enough boy!" The king yells at me, a scowl on his face. "Im doing what's best for my people! I suggest you stay in your lane and fall behind me."

 

Now Im not sure why that hit me as hard as it did, but I was visibly shaking, so I did what felt natural. I decompressed my leg, picked it up in my hand and threw it like a spear right into the kings chest, the metal feet knocking the wind out of him as I stumble to the floor. "Punk ass bitch!" I scream before being dragged away.

 

 


	6. Jump

"You know he has your best interests at heart, right?" Toby says, his arm around my shoulder in a comforting manner. Sometimes I wonder if he thinks he's my mother.

 

I roll my eyes "He doesn't even know what's in my best interest." I reply, fixing my prosthetic back into it's chassis, struggling due to my shaking hands. "I've see this type of shit before, it's best to strike when were still trusted."

 

"Or it could cost us the entire kingdom." Toby insists, squeezing my shoulder lightly. "We have no idea what we're up against, we can't just go in guns blazing."

 

"I can!" I retort, my eyes flashing blue. "I can do it myself if I need to." I mumble shaking Toby's arm off me and standing up. I feel suffocated, like the walls of this place are closing up. My skin feels hot and my mind is racing, thinking about the patterns from the past. Its the same now, not the threats but the pattern.

 

"He's coming." I whisper, as my vision fades from one reality to the next. The world I'm in versus the world it came from. The smoke, the fire..... the screaming.

 

 

"What is it?" Toby asks with concern. He's standing now, not too close to me but close enough. "You look sick." 

 

 

 

I see him! My twin! Or is that me? Am I over there or am I right here? "Get away from me!" I scream, feeling the pin pricks in my arm start again.

 

Toby jumps when I yell, unsure of what to do. "Just breath!" He says placing his hands on my shoulders tightly. I push him away and collapse, feeling very dizzy. Why do my hands burn?

 

_Alma!_

 

Toby talks but I cant hear him, he sprints off frantically. The sky suddenly darkens, as if the sun was extinguished.

 

**_Error_ **

 

 _What error? Whats that mean? What's happening_?

 

_**System shutting down** _

 

I feel a impact, but I cant see. I feel static radiating throughout my body. I feel myself rising off the ground.

 

—————————————————

 

The sky is red. Not like a sunset though, not as peaceful, not as calming. The sky is terrifying, and hot, and haunting. The sky is on fire and Im beneath the flames.

I can smell burning, with a distinctive chemical scent, like acid or... perhaps Im mistaken. 

 

" _Acid is ineffective._ " My twin says, sitting on the rubble next to me, he doesn't even bother to look at my face. I can hear.... something, rapid, powerful, not gunshots but something.... something else. " _You really have forgoten everything, haven't you 'Dindu'?_ " 

 

Its useless talking to him, he never answers my questions anyways. I push the rubble off of me and look around. A city? Maybe? It looks like it could've been. But what happened to it? 

 

" _You above all should know what happened here._ "

 

Bodies, hundreds of them, scattered about, all ages, sizes and races. But I can't see their faces..... it's too blurry, the smoke makes it hard to see, makes it hard to breathe. My lungs burn from the inside and I cough violently to extinguish the internal flames. 

 

"Shhhhhh..." the twin says, putting his hand up, effectively silencing me. " _This is my favorite part...."_

 

The horizon explodes, and a massive, shockwave rips and cracks and throws the rubble around me, making me duck to protect myself. The air around me turns to paper, and it's suddenly impossible to breath. The heat and the fear have paralyzed me, and the screams ring out, but they're not mine. The shockwaves have carried the screams with them as the earth gives way into a crater, igniting the planet. It burns and it hurts, and I try to scream or cry or run but I can't.

 

" _It's not as fun from their perspective, Is it?"_

 

————————————————

_**System reboot** _

 

I feel the first breath of air fill my lungs. The air is warm and unmoving. Like the air next to a fire. Am I inside? I cant see anything yet. Ahh there we go. The first flash before my vision returns. I see... a ceiling, a wooden ceiling. And to my right is a fireplace, and a empty leather chair. Am I in a cabin? This definitely isn't the kingdom.

 

I lean up on my elbows, noticing the warm, red blanket draped over me. Im still in my sweatpants and long sleeve shirt that I got from the Kingdom. This wasn't a normal jump, otherwise id be in my body suit.

 

 _Alma_?

 

 _ **Personality matrix disabled**_

 

Im still on the same planet, but this.... this hasn't happened before.

 

I hear a noise on the other side of the wall, muffled talking. Then approaching footsteps, heavy boots. I hear the doorknob jiggle and I go still, pretending to be asleep. Two sets of footsteps enter the room, one heavy, the other a bit lighter.

 

"He's still alive, I found him sleeping in the woods, not a scratch on him." One of the voices said, female. The accent is a bit different then what I've heard before.

 

"So you thought you could just bring him here?" A man says, with a surprising raspy voice. "You thought that was the smart move?" He scolds the girl.

 

"Daddy look at him! He's just a kid!" The girl talks back, receiving a smack on the face that resonates around the room.

 

"Goddamn it Jacy, you cant just bring everyone you meet into our fucking place! We got too many mouths and ain't got enough food! We're dry goddamnit!" The man whisper screams at his daughter, apparently this is a habit for her. "You ain't gonna do this shit again aight?"

 

"Aight daddy." Jacy whimpers out, her voice low and trembling. The man walks out of the room and the girl crys to herself silently.

 

Should I like, say something? Whats a normal thing to say to a crying girl?

 

"Sup." I whisper, proping myself up on my elbows and looking at the crying girl. Oh, she's cute. she has nice, smooth black skin. And shoulder length curly brown hair. Shes Maybe twenty years old with a strong, well maintained body. Like a runner, or maybe a martial artist? "You ok?" I ask.

 

She hides her face and wipes her eyes. "Y-ya I'm good." She replies, surprised by me.

 

"So you brought me here huh? By yourself?" I ask. The girl looks at me and nods, rapidly regaining her composure. She nods but doesn't say anything. "Well... thanks." I say with a friendly smile.

 

"No problem."

 

I get out of bed and stretch, touching my head to my shins and stretching my arms before looking back at the girl. "So, do I get a tour?"

——————————————

This place isn't as clean as the kingdom, but its definitely secure. A middle school and a small block of houses make up the interior of the safezone. It lacks a parameter wall, instead using a series of chainlink fences and destroyed vehicles as a protective barrier from the dead.

 

"Welcome to forest park." Jacy exclaims half heartedly.

 

We continue to walk and she points things out to me and explains their purpose. "You see that grill? It runs offa propane, but we ain't got anymore cuz some crazy niggas came and stole it from us at gunpoint, doesn't matter cuz they took most the food too." She sadly explains

 

"Was it the Saviors?"

 

"Nah it was Carmine and some gangbangers. They showed up a couple days ago."

 

That means they're still nearby..... probably. "Do you know were they are?" I ask.

 

She gives me a inquisitive look. "I think Conor does, why?"

 

"I could get your stuff back for you." I say smugly, making her laugh.

 

"Yeah I'm sure you could." She rolls her eyes.

 

No one ever believes me.

I let out a sad sigh and we continue on with the tour, There's not many people here.... not many left I mean, had twenty, lost ten some time ago and lost three more two days ago. Only seven left.

 

"Oh, well that is a shame."

 

She lowers her head sadly "Yeah a damn shame."

 

"Why not just kill carmine and be done with it?"

 

She bops herself on the head and her eyes widen. "Gee why didn't I think of that!?"

 

"I don't know." I shrug,

"You cant think of everything I guess."

 

She opens her mouth but decides not to say anything.

We move on to a large, gym like area. Inside were three men, one little girl and two teenagers, twin brothers by the look of it. They all gave a confused look when Jacy and I walked in.

 

"God damnit Jacy." One of the twins mumbles.

 

"Don't give me any shit Felix!" Jacy snaps at the boy, making him groan, his brother chuckles to himself lightly.

 

Jacy clears her throat. "Everyone! This is....."

 

"Dindu."

 

She turns and looks at me "really?" She asks and I nod. "Well I guess his name is Dindu."

 

"You fucked him without knowing his name?" The blond, blue eyed boy talks again, his arms crossed.

 

"Felix SHUT UP!" She yells at the boy.

 

"Hi Dindu." His brother waves, peeking around Felix's shoulder. I chuckle and wave back.

 

"Dindu, is that like a Aztek name or something?" Felix asks. I shrug and he just rolls his eyes and mumbles something to his brother. His brother shushes him and glances at me then back to Felix.

 

"Don't worry about him, he's just mad cuz his dick gets sucked into his body every-once in a while." Jacy says purposefully loud so Felix would hear, he just flips her off over his shoulder and goes back to talking to his brother.

I chuckle.

 

We walk over to a small girl and Jacy picks her up, hugging the girl tightly. She's six, maybe seven years old. "Jamie meet Dindu." Jacy says in a sweet tone. Jamie gives me a shy wave and hides her face in the crook of Jacys neck.

 

"Hi Jamie." I say, matching Jacys tone. I've always had a soft spot for children, the innocents of them. I hate to see that Innocents washed away, but I guess in a world like this its for the best.

 

"Hey, kid! Come here!" A large muscular man with a lisp and a face tattoo calls me over to him.

 

"Don't let him intimidate you." Jacy warns as I walk away. Jamie waves to me over her shoulder. 

 

I walk up to the man, his eyes looking me up and down, like he's sizing me up.

 

"Hey." I say, unsure of what to do. "You wanna arm wrestle?"

 

"Who are you?" The man asks ignoring my arm wrestling challenge.

 

"Im Dindu?" I answer, not really sure what to say.

 

"Where are you from?" He asks

 

"The kingdom I guess."

 

"You guess?" The other man asks, a taller but slightly less muscular man then the one with the lisp.

 

"I was only there for a week and two days."

 

"Why were you in sleeping in the woods?" The white guy asks again.

 

"I don't even know how I got there honestly." I say shrugging. 

 

"Like, you were drugged?" The man with the lisp asks. I nod my head in affirmation. What am I gonna tell them? Teleportation? I think the fuck not!

 

"Which one of you is Connor?" I ask the two men.

 

"I am." The taller, white man with the buzz cut answers.

 

"So, carmine. You know where he is?" I Ask.

 

The man gives me a glare at the mention of his adversary, but he nods. "I have a pretty good idea. Why?"

 

I smirk. "I can get your food back for ya."

 

"Oh really? How?"

 

"Simple, we go in, kill carmine and take the food." I say. It's not a elaborate plan, and it's pretty ducking generic, but it gets the job done.

 

"Hmmmm just one question."

 

"What?"

 

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" He says.

 

I shake my head in confusion, making sure my head was still attached to my body. "N-no."

 

"So you're just stupid?"

 

I blink a couple of times, but after I get a good look at the map on the table I walk out. "Fine, If I need to prove myself I will, but I expect a fucking apology when I'm back!"


	7. The slap

"You ready boy?" I ask Fenrir as we look over Carmines compound. Observing the guards rotation patterns, they seem bored, undisciplined. They lack numbers, and there perimeter is too spread out to stay secure, leaving plenty of cracks in the settlement's defenses. Fenrir was somehow able to infiltrate the compounds interior, walk through its hall and map it out for me, allowing me to access it through my HUD.

 

That's pretty neat huh? I thought that was neat, I can also see anyone he sees, but only when he sees them now that he's back out here I'm the woods with me I can't see them. Still neat though.

 

"Lets do this."

 

I advance quickly, but quietly approaching the nearest guard, a man sitting on a lawn chair reading a book, his rifle beside him, resting on the concrete wall. I climb the high rise using the water pipe, its only eight feet to the top of the wall, so I climb it in a few seconds.

 

He didn't see me right? No? Ok good.

 

I crawl foward on my knuckles and feet, like a gorilla. Stealthily sneaking up on the man. Fenrir keeps his sights other the other guard on the other side of the wall, allowing me to know his movements. I sneak up behind the distracted guard, he turns a page and I wrap my arms around his neck in a rear naked choke, flexing my bicep to cut off the flow of blood to his brain, rendering him unconscious in just a few seconds. I twist his neck sharply, and the sound of snapping vertebrae greet my ears. The man's body jerks, then relaxes as I gently place the man on the ground. Nice and painless. Ok Fenrir, you're up.

 

The wolf charges foward jumping ove- holy shit! I didn't know he could jump that high! He latches onto the mans throat shaking it rapidly, tearing it out and killing the man before he even had time to react. Fenrir is boss as fuck! Good boy!

 

I grab the rifle off the ground, along with the mans side arm, stuffing the pistol into the front of my sweatpants. Shit, too loose feels weird. I decided to take the mans tactical belt, wrapping it around my waist and strapping the holster around my right leg, stuffing the pistol in there instead. Thats much better, and I get three extra pistol magazines as well. I press the butt of the ak-47 against my shoulder and make my way to the door, Fenrir close behind me.

 

Hmmm, I've never infiltrated a compound with a dog before, but it sounds fun!

 

I chuckle to myself opening the door and storming down the stairs, weapon ready.

 

Is this on semi? Yep. 

 

I make my way to the main hallway, surprisingly not a single person has crossed paths with me. This doesn't feel right.

 

Fenrir, sniff em out.

 

The wolf's pace quickens, his nose to the ground. I follow closely behind, weapon ready, breath steady, There's vomit on his sweater already, moms spaghetti. Hes' nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready....... oh. 

 

I somehow stumbled into a large room, in the center of which were six men, crowded around a table playing some sort of card game.... probably poker, since one of the men has a hat on that literally has the words "poker"printed on the front of it.

 

"What the fuck?" One of the men sitting around the table shouts when he sees me and my dog.

 

Should I say a catchphrase?

 

"Anyone order some.... death?" I awkwardly mumble, disappointed feelings spreading through my body. That could have been alot cooler. 

 

Fuck it.

 

I open fire on the group, aiming for the head. I miss one and pop him in the collar bone, snapping it. Fenrir finished him of by ripping his throat out, violently, if I may add.

 

"Fenrir you need to chill." I tell my blood thirsty dog.... or wolf.... or alien dog wolf. Im actually not sure what he is now that I think about it.

 

Dindu! This can wait!

 

You're right, me.

 

"Lets clear em out Fenrir!" I yell, knowing everyone in the compound would have heard those gunshots.

 

I press on, following close behind Fenrir, knowing his nose can sniff out any hostiles in the compound. Fenrir is extremely capable in close-range combat, and despite my love of hand to hand fighting, I allow him to take on any single attacker we get within ten feet of, any farther and I fire upon them with my rifle.

 

"That's twenty." I chuckle to the wolf beside me. Im almost out of ammo, three rounds left. I still have my sidearm so no reason to worry.

 

"We're doing pretty good huh Fenrir?" I pat the dog on the head and am rewarded with a purr, This is the only dog I've seen that purrs like a cat, but he also the only one that has a internal link to my hud, allowing me to issue orders without saying a word, controlled entirely by thought. 

——————————————

 

"Kyah!" I scream and slam my knee into the mans sternum, sending him toppling over the table and onto the floor. He clutches his chest as I finish him off with two shots to the head with my pistol.

 

I point my weapon at the door leading into the final room, quickly making my way to it.

 

_Get ready Fenrir._

 

I turn the handle and push the door open, quickly moving inside, checking my corners. Nothing, except some monitors with a live feed of the compound.

 

"They have security cameras?"

 

I look around the room for a exit, the only door is the one I came through. I look at a bulletin board on the wall, on it is a map with circles, square numbers drawn on it.

 

Hmmm, the Kingdom isn't circled on here, but Forest park has a square around it, along with other areas I don't recognize, some places are crossed out but I cant make sense of the code on here.

 

Suddenly the door to my left slams shut, I hear Fenrir barking on the other side. I turn my weapon towards the door in surprise, but my weapon explodes in my hands, shrapnel cutting my face.

 

"Oh what the fuck!" I yell, picking the shrapnel out of my hands and face and arms. A man jumps down from the pipes that line the ceiling of the room, a weapon in his hand and a stoic expression on his face.

 

"Yo." I say to the man and pick the last piece of shrapnel out from under my right eye, the wounds healing as quickly as I pick out the shrapnel. "That was a good shot, but why didn't you aim for my head?"

 

The man didn't say anything, simply just put his weapon down on the table behind him, next to the door. He then grabbed two knives from the holster on the back of his pants, tossing me one.

 

I catch it and look at him curiously. My eyes widen with realization.

"You... want to have a knife fight." 

 

A grin grew on the mans face as he started to laugh. "Hahaha I knew I couldn't play the serious role for long." The man begins tossing his knife if his hand and looking with me with.....affection?

 

"Ohhh" the man moans. "Watching you tear away at those idiots, It got me all hot and bothered." The man says, licking his lips.

 

"Wow, you are annoyingly edgy hehe." I chuckle.

 

"Almost got off before you got here, but you were too quick." The man says and then laughs.

"So kid, whats ya name?"

 

"Dindu. And you are?"

 

"Henry." The man moans his own name, touching himself all over. "So, you ready?" He says getting into a fighting stance

 

"No." I say rolling my eyes. "And by no I mean yeah."

 

He laughs and charges forward,  jetting the knife foward, narrowly missing my chest. I spin around, slicing the air as he ducks under my knife before jumping back from my kick.

 

"Tricky tricky." 

 

I charge foward this time, kicking him in the chest, slamming him against the wall, and jetting my knife hand foward. He side stepps and grabs the back of my head.  Instead of slamming my face into concrete, I roll my shoulder to protect my face and invert the knife in my hands before I thrust it backwards, he catches with his free hand and uses his knife handle to knock it out of my hand. I grab his knife hand and pull it next to me, using my weight and momentum to slam him into the wall.

 

He drops his knife and kicks it away before wrestling his arm out of my grip.

 

He grins at me "having fun?"

 

"Ouch the edge."

 

I charge forward, faking a front kick and jumping into a superman punch, he parries and bounces away, narrowly avoiding my back kick.

 

I bounce on my toes in a side stance, waiting for him to make a move. He moves forward, I circle him, looking for a opportunity to close the distance. I see him loading up that back leg. I jab foward, catching him in the nose, he throws the leg and catches me in the rib cage, but im able to wrap my arm around it. I swing it to my live zone and cartwheel to his week zone, catching him in the jaw with my foot. Making him collapse.

 

"Hhahah that was cool!" He screams, wiping the blood off his lower lip

 

Oh he's one of those guys who gets off on pain ain't he?

 

"Don't get so perverted, it's uncomfortable." I roll My eyes, waiting for him to get back to his feet.

 

He jumps to his feet using only his shoulders and charges at me, Swinging at my face.

 

I catch the first punch with my hand, but I quickly realize Im stuck in the corner. I cover up as he continues to punch and elbow and kick sporadically, i do my best to block and parry all that I can, but there's only so much room to move when you're backed against a wall. I start blocking his attacks with my elbows, allowing him to enjoy the small jolts of pain that shoot through his hands with every useless attack.

 

"Heh I see what you're doing boy." The man ceases his assault to speak. "Why not fight back? Its more fun when it goes back and forth." 

 

"You would be dead already if I fought back." I smirk. "Im just letting you have your fun first."

 

He groans and loads up a right hook, I duck under and swing around him, wrapping my arms around his waist, using my hips to throw him up and over my head with a big suplex.

 

He lands on his neck with a loud snapping noise as his skull bounces off the concrete floor beneath us. Blood begins pouring out of the back of his head.

 

"Ohh haha you know how to touch a man don't ya?" The man chuckles, fighting through his grogginess. "And here I thought you were losing."

 

"I'll admit, you have some decent moves...." I say. The back of his head is indented, and even if I was willing to help him, he'd be dead within five minutes. "Actually, 'had' is the better word."I get off of the man, grabbing the knife from the other side of the room. "Did you have fun?"

 

"I did."

 

"Thats the important part."

I giggle walking over to him, waving the knife in my hand. "Hey can you roll over?"

 

He groans and rolls onto his back. I lean down and stab the knife through his heart, crushing his sternum in the process. "Thanks." I chuckle and pat him on the head, earning a smile as the man fades out of consciousness. 

 

Fucking psycho. I might miss him.

 

I rip the map off the wall and fold it up, placing it in my pocket.

 

Shit, I should've asked Henry about the map. Whoops

 

I open the door and am greeted by a very anxious looking Fenrir. "Alright boy, lets get that food." I say and pat him on the head.

——————————————

 

"Holy fuckles!" I exclaim, walking into the food storage area in the nucleus of the compound. There's literally a ton of food in here! This had to have come from more then one settlement. "Alright..... guess I'll just move this shit."

 

I walk to a decent sized, neatly packed package of food, squatting down to properly lift the box up, using my hip

Bones as support. I begin waddling out the door, making my way through a hallway.

 

"Fuck!" I scream when I run into the wall instead of walking through the door. "God damnit! I hate moving things!"

 

I eventually make my way through the compound and out the the door, allocating one of the compounds trucks, stuffing the box in the back before repeating the process another twelve times, filling the bed of the pickup truck before opening the drivers side door and getting comfortable in the leather seat. 

 

"Start." I say to the wheel in front of me, waiting for a response. I got none.

 

"Ignite." I exclaimed, a bit more stern in tone, to no avail.

 

"Begin! Nigga damn!" I scream, my blood boiling from the vehicles lack of cooperation.

 

I ummm... I don't know how cars work.


	8. Thunder clap

After twenty minutes of attempting to start the car I finally admitted defeat, choosing to huff it back to Forest Park on foot.

 

Connor didn't believe me when I told him I had cleared out the compound, killing everyone inside. I resorted to describing the interior of the compound in painstaking detail, and handing over the map I had taken from the monitor room. He put the muscular man, Mike, in charge of the group while he accompanied me on a quick run to the compound. He seemed surprised by the carnage, but not necessarily shaken by it; citing his career as a S.W.A.T operative as the reason for being so composed. "Nothing new" he said, comparing the carnage to that of the Mexican Cartels. I had expected a bit of praise for my work, but quickly realized his handshake after discovering the food storage room was all the recognition I was going to receive.

 

He drove the truck I had packed with food back to forest park while I waited at the compound. I spent the alone time slaying the reanimating corpses and checking out the military grade equipment that was stored in the armory of the compound. I decided to take a pistol and M-4 rifle from the armory, equipping both with a silencer, I had considered placing a red dot sight on my new rifle, but decided to just use the holographic one built into my H.U.D. It's like a circle with a crosshairs in the center of it, I can also zoom using my natural eye sight.

 

Eventually Connor returned with the twins, Mike, and a new man named Clinton, who identified himself as Jacys' father. We spent hours moving supplies and equipment back to Forest park, using the Vehicles from the compound as transport. It took the entire day, and everyone was exhausted, but we got the job done. The Forest Park group now has a surplus of weapons, food, water, and medicine. All Possible thanks to yours truly!

 

You're welcome! You ungrateful fucknuggets!

 

A wink and a pat on the back! Thats what I get! Can someone please just grab my ass at least? Seriously. I solved all their problems in half a fucking hour!

——————————————

 

I take a deep breath of cool, morning air. Enjoying the silence and rocking in the chair on the porch of my new house. There's more houses then people here, and after yesterday I was welcomed to stay. 

 

I take another bite of my pork chops, enjoying the sweetness that the fat provides as well as the overall meaty texture. I hadn't see any pigs at the compound, which means they were either taken from another settlement, or they have farm animals at another compound.

 

I cut a small piece off of one of my pork chops and raise it in front of my dog. Fenrir watches my hand intently "Catch." I say and toss the meat in the air. The wolf gobbles in up quickly and his tail wags rapidly. I take another bite before repeating the process. 

 

It's around six in the morning, I had gave up on sleeping, feeling much stronger then usual thanks to the abundance of food I've eaten since last night, including a variety of canned fish, beef, eggs and pork. All of this in addition to the sunlight and yesterday's nap provided me with a almost unbearable amount of energy. I tried exercising, but that didn't help much, so I went out for a while in the middle of the night, using my knife to slice and dice a innumerable amount of zombies within a three mile radius of the settlement, using the trees to my advantage. I discovered that Fenrir is able to consume the corpses, using the tendrils that extended from his back to absorb entire human bodies within seconds, something I was able to do in the past.

 

I place my dishes in the sink at my house, using a water bottle and soap to wash them before placing them on the counter to dry. I turn to my dog "wanna go for a walk?" I ask Fenrir, who shakes his tail vigorously. I open the door and follow him out, watching as he sprints around the safe zone.

 

That boy, whats his name again?Felix?

 

I spot the boy sitting crisscross on a blanket in the middle of the grassy field. Since he's the only one up right now I may as well talk to him, I was too busy yesterday to get properly acquainted.

 

"Yo."

 

The boy opens his eyes and looks up at me with a friendly grin. "Oh, Dindu its just you." He cocks his head to the sude curiously "Whoa, your eyes are really blue."

 

I shrug my shoulders "Hmmm? Yep.”he's a bit friendlier then I remember. Ohh wait this is the twin! Duh!

 

"Oh, you're the twin, I never learned your name."

 

He chuckles to himself, apparently happy about something. "Liam, Liam Young."

 

"What are you doing, Liam Young?" I ask, swaying my hips side to side awkwardly.

 

"Oh, I'm meditating, care to join me?" He scoots over and pats the blanket next to him invitingly

 

I shrug "Heh, sure."and sit down next to him, mimicking his sitting posture and crossing my legs.

 

"Just relax and focus on your breathing." He says and then takes a deep breath as if to demonstrate.

 

"I was raised by monks, I know how to meditate." I say, kinda cutting him off. I notice his mood recede a bit, and I decide to try and bring him back out of his shell. "Why do you meditate?"

 

"Well.... I use it to manage my stress. I started before all of this started, me and my mom used to practice together."

 

"Did it take a long time?"

 

"Yeah, but I've had plenty of practice since then."

 

"Does your brother ever do it? He seems a bit stressed."

 

He chuckles "Hehe no, he always thought it was stupid."

 

"Oh, how come?"

 

He opens his eyes and puts his hands on his chin "Well.... Im not actually sure, I mean he always had anger issues, but I think he grew comfortable being angry."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"Well.... have you ever had to do something, and once it was over you feel like theirs still more to be done? I think thats how he feels, he's gotten so used to being angry he forgot how to be happy."

 

"Well that's depressing." I say, and he glances over at me with dark green eyes. He chuckles, taking my comment as a Joke.

 

I take a deep breath and close my eyes, allowing the cool air to fill my lungs. I let my muscles relax and keep my posture straight. I attempt to let my thoughts go.

 

Guess what Im not doing

 

 

 

Did you guess?

 

 

 

 

 

Did you guess thinking?

 

 

 

Because that's wrong. I think this little conversation I'm having with myself is still considered thinking.

 

 

Probably.

 

 

 

Definitely

 

Son of a bitch, I can feel his eyes on me.

 

 

I open my eyes and groan.

"Stop staring at me Liam!"

 

He bursts out laughing and gives me a funny look. "Hahaha try to not get frustrated. Just focus on your breathing. Let your emotions slide off you."

 

"Just don't eye fuck me." I mumble before taking a long, deep breath. Feeling the cool morning air fill my lungs again, letting my anxieties and thoughts fade away and evaporate.

 

I feel good, like Im weightless. I feel a warmth spread through me, despite the cold air. Eventually I cease to feel the breeze, instead taking on the form of a warm, weightless body. I see nothing, I hear nothing. I have no thoughts, good or bad. And I am content

 

"Hello?" A distorted voice says, confusion apparent in its voice.

 

_Hello?_

 

"Wh-whats going on?" The voice stutters, sounding afraid.

 

_Hmmm, Im not sure._

 

"I don't get whats go-go going on."

 

_Are you me?_

 

"I-I don't know. I d-d-don't know what's going on." The voice starts hyperventilating, it's breath sharp and screeching.

 

I start so see the outlines of shapes.

 

"Am I dreaming?" The voice asks, calming a bit.

 

 _Am I?_  

 

I see the outline of a body, I can see it looking around. But I cant see what It sees.

 

"Okay okay Im dreaming, dreaming lucidly."

 

_I can see you, can you see me?_

 

"I-I see sh-shimmering."

 

_Shimmering?_

 

"Li-lik-like when h-he disappeared."

 

_He?_

 

"M-my friend."

 

_Toby!_

 

My eyes flick open and I fall on the ground. I look around and see the twins staring at me "You were fucking Floating!" Felix screams, his brother hides behind, a mixture of caution and curiosity on his face.

 

"I talked to Toby."

 

Liam peaks out a little more, more curious then afraid. "You talked to who?"

 

I take quick rapid breaths. Some of Tobys anxiety must have rubbed off on me. "He's my fri-friend, from the kingdom, I just talked to him."

 

Liam moves around Felix and crouches down next to me, noticing my newly developed stutter. "What did he say?"

 

"He was con-confused, thought he was sleeping" I answer, body trembling slightly, not out of fear, but trembling with energy.

 

Felix clears his throat to get our attention. " So are we just gonna not acknowledge that you were just in the fucking air?"

 

I roll my eyes and glare at the moody twin. "You're still on that?"

 

Felix glares back and raises his hands."yes Im still on that! Thats some paranormal shit! You shouldn't be here, you need to get your butt to a church or something!"

 

"I don't know man, sometimes I levitate its no big deal."

 

"No big deal?!" Felix shouts. "You're like a greek myth!"

 

Liam lets out a nervous giggle and puts his hands on his brothers shoulders, trying to calm him.

 

"Relax Felix." He says in a soothing voice and Felix rolls his eyes in response, but relaxes nonetheless. Liam spots Fenrir and focuses his attention on him. "What is it boy?" He asks the anxious looking wolf, its ears perked up.

 

Felix shoves Liams arms away. "Don't change the subject! This could be important."

 

Fenrir starts barking aggressively and a large convoy of trucks pulls up in front of Forest Parks main gate. The twins look at each other, unsure of the situation.

 

"Do you know them?" I ask, sensing the tension in the air. They answer me by sprinting off, Felix grabbing my arm and pulling me with them.

 

"Oh shit! Thats Carmine!" Felix yells pushing me and liam into a nearby house and locking the door behind us.

 

"Carmine? The guy who stole the food."

 

"Carmine as in the guy who murdered twenty people last week! That Carmine." Felix screams, fear evident on his face and Liam places his arms on his shoulders again.

 

"Breath Felix!" He advises and is shrugged off by his near hysterical twin. "Felix! I need you to calm down right now bro!"

 

Hmmm I have my Glock-17 with me, seventeen rounds a magazine. I have four magazines in total, giving me sixty eight rounds. I could just go out there and deal with them.

 

I walk towards the door and unlock the bolt, but im stopped by Liam. "What are you doing!?" He asks confused by my actions.

 

"Umm going outside?" I say as if it's obvious.

 

He begins to protest but is interrupted by a loud explosion. We scramble to a window, using our fingers to peek through the blinds. "They blew up the gate." Liam mutters, fear in his voice.

 

"Looks like they're coming in." I say noticing the squad of armed men moving in, they seem to be using military tactics.

 

I should meet them out there.

 

I move to the door again but this time Felix wraps his arms around me from behind. Using all his strength to try and drag me back from the door. "Ummm what you doing?" I ask, not bothering to wrestle out of his grasp.

 

"Keeping you from getting killed!" He yells, still trying to drag me back but I wont budge.

 

"I can't die ya know?" I chuckle. Even after yesterday these cunts doubt me.

 

"What do you mean?" He asks desperately. I was gonna make a joke but I was cut off by the man who kicked the door open. Felix screamed and let go of me, raising his arms above his head. Two more men follow behind him, weapons raised at each of us, the leader of the group focuses his weapon at my chest.

 

"Hands up!" He orders and I roll my eyes. He repeats himself, louder this time, taking a step closer.

 

"I don't want to." I chuckle, earning a piercing glare from the angry man. It's a simple bait strategy. If he didn't come in guns blazing, then the odds are he had no intentions if murdering a couple kids.

 

"I will fuckin shoot you!" The man screams, taking another step forward. One step too close!

I use one hand to pull his rifle out of his hands, enjoying the surprised look on the mans face. I kick the man in the chest knocking him back before side stepping towards the man on my right.

 

Grabbing the rail of the rifle I bring the plastic butt of the rifle down on the mans head vertically. The man falls to the ground and the plastic butt of the rifle shatters, sending plastic splinters around the room. I throw the broken rifle at the remaining man, he blocks it with his gun. I sprint up to him and deliver a Karate style straight punch to his solar plexus. A wave of energy shoots through my arm and pushes the man through the wall of the house, surprising even me.

 

My Thunderclap is back!

 

A psionic wave of energy capable of extraordinary damage, also it's quite loud, the sudden pressure change creating a gap in the air. When the gap closes a loud, supersonic snap can be heard, hence the name "Thunderclap". I can use it at will, just point my hands in the direction of my target and fire at will. Unfortunately, It uses up a bit of energy.

 

I feel my eyes burn hot with excitement. I shoot a grin at Felix over my shoulder, a surprised look on his face seemingly being shocked out of his earlier hysteria.

The hostile leader scrambles to his feet, reaching for his side arm.

 

"Do It again!" Felix screams and pulls his brother behind me. 

 

I point my fist at the man, firing the booming blast of energy through my body. A visible distortion slams into the man, audibly snapping countless bones and sending the man straight back through the wall of the green house on the other idea of the street.

 

"Woo!" I screech, ecstatic about the reemergence of one of my powers. This will put Forest Park on equal terms with Carmines army! I look over my shoulder at the twins "Get help! I'll draw their attention."

 

Liam nods and drags his brother behind me as I charge out the door, I fire off some shots from my glock to suppress the squad of people across the street, keeping them in cover so the twins can get away.

 

"You came to the wrong street bitch!" I taunt and charge across the street, keeping my weapon ready incase one of them pop out of cover, which of course one of them does, earning a bullet through the eye.

 

Eight rounds left.

 

I charge onto the porch, narrowly dodging a bullet aimed at my chest. I retaliate by slamming my metal foot into his face, breaking the mans nose. As I load up another kick Im greeted by a bullet to the chest by a four man squad near the break in the gate, knocking me onto my back.

 

I shoot the man I had previously kicked in the head before crouching and rolling behind the cover, popping my head out of cover for a moment the see the enemy at the gate. I pop up and fire three shots, hitting a man in the shin, his friends open fire on me, forcing me into the interior of the house.

 

Four rounds left.

 

I crawl behind the kitchen counter, shielding my eyes from the shards of glass as bullets riddle the house, smashing the window over the kitchen counter. I wait for a low in gunfire but Carmines men seem pretty angry about me killing off a couple of their men, screaming obscenities and focusing fire at me. Im faced with a decision, either peak out and risk getting my head shot off, costing me valuable time and energy, or wait for the enemy to storm this house, giving me a close range fight. I raised my hand out of cover, a bullet going straight through, leaving a bloody mess of a hand.

 

Guess I'll wait. 

 

I crouch walk to to the edge of the kitchen, peaking out to see the door I came in and spot a large group of hostiles, weapons up, moving in. Some of them charge in and the rest surround the house.

 

Now or never.

 

Before I move a volley of gunfire slams into some of the men out side, making them scatter. I guess the rest of Forest Park is finally fighting back. The six men in the house with me are distracted by the gun fire, allowing me to open fire on the two closest men, hitting them both in the head, shattered their skulls with lead.

 

Two rounds left, make em count!

 

I sprint out of cover, slamming the closest man into the wall, holding his rifle in place with my body and left hand. I turn and with my weapon hand fire the remaining rounds at the other man, slamming into his chest and knocking him over.

 

Shit! He has a vest under his jacket.

 

I holster my weapon and focus on the man I have pinned attempting to wrestle his assault rifle out of his grip. I resort to using vicious elbows, slamming them into his head, creating cuts which bleed into his eyes. "Let go you cunt!" I scream, rapidly losing my window to finish off the man on the ground. I slam my hand into the mans throat, finally making him let go, before elbowing the man a final time and spinning with the momentum , firing a volley at the man on the ground.

 

And another one gone!  

 

I focus my attention on the last man, dodging his erratic, uncoordinated punches. I spin to his dead zone(his back) and slam the butt of the rifle into the back of his head, making him stumble to his knees. I raise the gun to his head, firing a single shot.

 

His brain spatters onto the carpet beneath us, and I set the rifle down and reload my Glock before re holstering it and pick up the rifle. My head is low as I move to the entrance, most of the men seem preoccupied with the assault being launched from three separate houses on the other side of the settlement, looks like Forest Park is all in!

 

I quietly make my way out of the house, using the battle as cover to flank my enemies, dropping all the bodies that my friends can't get a bead on, they offer their support by providing covering fire, shooting down all who attempt to flank me. Carmines gang suddenly launches a full retreat, firing smoke grenades from the other side of the fence.

 

Unfortunately for them, I have built in thermal vision, allowing me to use the smoke to my advantage, making my way through the enemy's line and Next to Carmines retreating convoy.

 

I let out a ferocious roar and slam my elbow into a mans head, knocking him unconscious. I feel bullets rip through my back, dropping me onto my stomach roughly. After my face bounces off the concrete, I turn over and use my Thunderclap on the squad of hostiles, slamming them into the vehicles behind them and literally tearing one of them apart, a few fingers sticking to a red pickup trucks window.

 

I try to use my legs to get up, but one of the bullets managed to hit my weak spot, a soft vertebrae on my lower back, in between my tendril points. I use my elbows to roll onto my back and pick up on of the rifles lying on the ground, propping myself up against the dead body behind me and firing at Carmines retreating convoy.

 

"Fuck." I curse to myself in frustration. I could have finished this. I fire off the last few rounds in my possession and throw my weapon to the ground, waiting for my spine to heal, crossing my arms.

 

The corpse Im laying on begins to twitch, alerting me to its reanimation, my hand clamping onto its throat before my Thunderclap, shattered its head hand collar bones.

 

Fuck, all these corpses are gonna come back alive eventually.

 

My spine finally heals, allowing me to stand and look around, usually all these bodies would fill me with pride, but our settlement was destroyed in the process!

 

"Welp, that sucks."

I say sarcastically, feeling my frustration boil in my brain.

I walk through whats left of the barriers through the smoke and into the middle of the settlement, raising my thumbs in the air to signal the all clear.

——————————————

"Good fucking Job guys!" Connor praises the group, slapping us on the back and celebrating our victory. We didn't lose a single person, not one. However there were some injuries, Clinton took a round through the forearm, shattering it. Liam got hit by flying debris and received a concussion, he's having vision problems at the moment. Jacy has some glass shards stuck in her face and neck, apparently being quiet painful.

 

"Shouldn't we find a doctor?" Felix suggests, his arm wrapped protectively over his twin.

 

"Yeah if I could get this fucking glass outa my face I'd appreciate that." Jacy chimes in, annoyed with Connors celebration. 

 

"Well does anyone know a doctor?" Connor asks, crossing his arm.

 

Hmmmmm.

 

"I know of one, Gerald, he's from the kingdom." I say, remembering the mans awkward inspection of my prosthetic upon arrival the the Kingdom. "Im sure he could help."

 

"Well there we go." Felix says rolling his eyes "And im sure they'll take us in."

 

"We have supplies" Liam mumbles, his head on his brothers shoulder "we could try bargaining."

 

"Can we hurry this up? The gates broken remember? Those crackheads can come in anytime!" Clinton groans, Holding whats left of his shattered forearm.

 

"He's right we cant stay here" Jacy backs up her Father. "We need to find a new place to stay, this place is gone."

 

I look around me, observing the burned remains of some of these houses, my Thunderclap being to blame for a large bulk of the damage. Whoops.

 

"So, Kingdom?" I ask, clarifying the plan.

 

"Lets go."


End file.
